Flora and Fauna Glen Spey 12 Year Old

Not every great collection announces itself. Flora & Fauna was launched in 1991 by United Distillers with little fanfare, its purpose simply to give rare single malts a chance to be tasted beyond the world of blended Scotch. The name arrived later, courtesy of whisky writer Michael Jackson, who saw something in those delicate label illustrations of local plants and wildlife that felt worth naming. Diageo never made it official. They didn't have to. With only 11 bottlings still available today, the collection speaks quietly — and collectors are listening.

Founded in 1878 as an oatmeal mill in Rothes, Speyside, Glen Spey became a distillery when it was acquired by London-based wine and gin merchant W. & A. Gilbey in 1887 — notably the first time a Scottish distillery had passed into English ownership. Through a series of mergers it eventually became part of Diageo, with its malt remaining a key component of J&B blended Scotch throughout. Like Glenlossie, Glen Spey uses purifiers on its spirit stills, a rare device that increases copper contact and produces a characteristically light and delicate spirit. With virtually all output destined for blending, the 12 Year Old Flora & Fauna added in 2001 is the only widely available distillery bottling — a herbaceous and dry Speysider with notes of citrus, pine, pepper and a whisper of smoke.