Gradually 3 bottles of Miltonduff gathered on shelf, so why not taste them together?..
Miltonduff single malts are not the ones you stumble across every day, distillery is more focused on producing spirit for blends. Some facts about Miltonduff:
1. Long ago a part of Miltonduff was owned by catholic church. As you might know distillery is located on territory of Pluscarden Abbey founded by Benedictine monks in 1236.
2. It produces huge amount of alcohol (5.5 mln ltr in 2012) larger part of which goes to Ballantines (scotch whisky #2 in the world and #1 in EU, 2012 figures). In Chivas Brothers stable only Glenlivet is producing more.
3. From 1964 to 1981 there was a pair of Lomond still on Miltonduff where Mosstowie was produced. Later on they were replaced by usual stills.
Let's get ready to rumble:
Miltonduff 1963 G&M Connoisseurs Choice Brown label 40% - exact age is unknown. Nose: wow, machinery and minerals, spices, green vegetables, hints of mint. Taste: thuja needles and sweet resin :) Finish: long and surprisingly fresh. If that is typical old Miltonduff style then I do like it! Smells and tastes absolutely ok even at 40% strength. Score = 23 22 22 22, 89/100!
1. Long ago a part of Miltonduff was owned by catholic church. As you might know distillery is located on territory of Pluscarden Abbey founded by Benedictine monks in 1236.
2. It produces huge amount of alcohol (5.5 mln ltr in 2012) larger part of which goes to Ballantines (scotch whisky #2 in the world and #1 in EU, 2012 figures). In Chivas Brothers stable only Glenlivet is producing more.
3. From 1964 to 1981 there was a pair of Lomond still on Miltonduff where Mosstowie was produced. Later on they were replaced by usual stills.
Let's get ready to rumble:
Miltonduff 1963 G&M Connoisseurs Choice Brown label 40% - exact age is unknown. Nose: wow, machinery and minerals, spices, green vegetables, hints of mint. Taste: thuja needles and sweet resin :) Finish: long and surprisingly fresh. If that is typical old Miltonduff style then I do like it! Smells and tastes absolutely ok even at 40% strength. Score = 23 22 22 22, 89/100!
Miltonduff 25 yo 1989/2016 Maltbarn #39 51.2% - this is another quite rare Miltonduff release from independent German bottler matured in bourbon casks. Nose: honey, minerals, pine needles. Mash notes are present here which is tad sad, you need to give it some time either in the glass or in the bottle on shelf. Taste: fresh and powerful on pine resin. Finish: long and mineral. It used to be 88/100 this summer, but I tasted it from half-empty bottle and the nose was better. Most likely it will impove after some time. Score = 21 22 22 22, 87/100!
Miltonduff 14 yo Sestante Pluscarden Valley 57.4% - very rare Italian cask strength release from Sestante (most likely bottled in 80-s). You either need to read the whole label to find where it was produced or to be aware that Pluscarden Valley = Miltonduff in most cases. Of course the cork fell to pieces during opening, but that didn't stop us!
Nose: sweet and fresh, thuja needles, mint and anise, some mouldy notes as well, but it's a question of taste, here I do like them. Not a sign of mash despite its age. Wouldn't guess it's only 14 yo on a blind tasting.
Taste: burst of sweetness and freshness, powerful but not biting, complex and overwhelming.
Finish: thuja resin, mint, anise and long-lasting freshness.
Overall: almost a fossil now, but so superb! Not a fan of Speyside but these old cask strength releases could be hidden gems.
Score: 22.5 22.5 23 23, 91/100!
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