That Boutique-y Whisky Company Miltonduff Tasting Notes

That Boutique-y Whisky Company Miltonduff Batch 1 51.4%

Btl: 2013/ Tasted: Mar 2014

An interesting nose of dusty pollen, waxy Satsuma, orange blossom honey, pungent beeswax and black pepper. A little floral and soapy with time with developing grainy wood tannins and earth. Water emphasises the juicy citrus and barley.

The palate is pleasantly juicy – apricot and Satsuma followed by light honey, summer flowers and dusty barley. Tartly citrus on the middle with hints of earth. Water brings out the milky, chocolaty oak. Good juicy length, but neat the alcohol is rather intrusive. Water lengthens and brings out a touch of spice.

Skene Miltonduff Tasting Notes

Skene Cask Classics Miltonduff 2008 (9 year old) 46%

Bourbon Hogshead 900193/ Dist: May 2008 Btl: Jun 2017/ Tasted: Apr 2018

Deep, honeyed and heathery aromas. The nose also shows a malty maturity beyond its years with hints of warm vanilla, tea leaves, cigar leaf and creamy American oak. A lovely nose!

The palate is full and honeyed with plenty of sawdusty American oak to begin with. Hints of heather, liquorice, spice and dark chocolate appear. It’s a little on the woody side on the middle but that also brings the tobacco and tea leaf notes. Long and spicy with lingering sweet honey, bitter chocolate tannins and oak. A very impressively balanced palate.

North Star Spirits Miltonduff Tasting Notes

North Star Spirits Miltonduff 1981 (36 year old) 53.8%

Bourbon Hogshead/ Dist: Dec 1981 Btl: Sept 2018/ Tasted: Sept 2018

That’s an absolutely gorgeous nose! Luscious and honeyed with tropical melon, apricot, papaya, grape, apple and unsweetened pineapple. There’s a hint of Cognac-esque dried fruit and more than a hint of sexy, sawdusty American oak and late heather.

The palate is equally luscious and honeyed with sawdusty oak, heather, barley and a slightly more restrained tropical fruit character. A little gritty but sweetly spiced tannin on the middle which is softened by the vanilla. Beautifully balanced finish with sweet fruit, minerals, gooseberry and lime.

James Eadie Miltonduff Tasting Notes

James Eadie Small Batch Miltonduff 2009 (9 year old) 46%

First-fill Bourbon Casks 701561 & 701563

Dist: 2009 Btl: 2019/ Tasted: Mar 2019

The nose has a slightly spirity edge and is also Quite heavy on the oak, which comes across slightly palsticy. Herbal barley and late greengage.

The palate opens with the toffee’d oak and subtle barley and heather. Again very oaky and sweet with a slight bittering on the middle and finish. Very nutty after-taste.

James Eadie Small Batch Miltonduff 10 year old 46%

2 Fist Fill Bourbon Casks/ Cask Numbers 701556 & 701562

Dist: 2009? Btl: 2020/ Tasted: Mar 2020

Gristy and barley’d aromas with hints of lemon saturated honey, fennel and floral heather. Pleasantly sweet and aromatic with late toffee’d oak,

The palate opens with te lightly toffee’d aok and barley. It moves into honey, praline, heather and vanilla. Very soft and mouth-filling with a subtle mineral middle. Long, honeyed and heathery with bracken and herbal, menthol finish.

House of Macduff Miltonduff Tasting Notes

House of Macduff Golden Cask Miltonduff 2009 (8 year old) 60%

Bourbon Cask CN245/ Dist: 2009 Btl: 2018/ Tasted: Mar 2020

The nose is very oaky with coconut, vanilla and Bourbony corn. I’m guessing a first fill cask. Quite tight with a touch of fragrant heather, malt, honey and more vanilla.

The palate again opens with the oak, – coconut, vanilla, hazelnut and tannin. There’s a touch of honey, heather and malt but the finished is not surprisingly masked with intense oak spice and lingering Bourbony corn.

With water the nose is still pretty oaky but more of the heathery spirit character is noticeable. The palate is a little less oaky and again there is a touch more of the malt and heather. The oak comes back on the middle with a toastier demeanour. Still a spicy finish.

Edition Spirits Miltonduff Tasting Notes

Edition Spirits ‘The First Editions’ Miltonduff 1990 (29 year old) 57.2%

Bourbon/ Code: EDI0533/ Dist: Mar 1990 Btl: 2019/ Tasted: Dec 2019

Aromatic, heathery, herbal and malty on the nose with a lovely array of subtle oxidised autumnal fruit, lemon curd and a touch of vanilla oak. Lovely, deep, elegant and complex.

Rich, malty and lightly honeyed on the palate. Full and rounded with heather, and wild scubby herbs, lime and pepper. There’s more oak character on the palate and it is deliciously sawdusty and mature but it’s perfectly balanced. A very sublime and sexy finish with lingering heather, honey, malt, citrus and oak.

Claxton’s Miltonduff Tasting Notes

Claxton’s ‘The Single Cask’ Miltonduff 2008 (9 year old) 55.9%

First Fill Bourbon Barrel 1842-700990

Dist July 2008 Btl: Jun 2018/ Tasted: Jul 2018

The nose is fresh, gristy, citric and heathery with hints of cereal, white peach, grass, apricot and honey. The tannins are quite noticeable and display a very gritty character, but also some pleasantly soft vanillins.

The palate is soft and rounded with vanilla, gritty, tight tannins and a touch of dried, almost grainy fruit, but that graininess is probably more down to the oak influence. Hints of heather, apple and apricot come through on the middle. The alcohol really intensifies the grittiness and masks the finish. Subtle dried fruit after-taste.

With water the nose becomes quite perfumed and sugary with more emphasis on the white fruit and less on the oak. However the palate is the other way around, with the oak being overly dominant and very creamy, in a clotted cream-like way. Touch of wood spice on the finish.

Claxton’s ‘The Single Cask’ Miltonduff 2008 (10 year old) 55.8%

First Fill Bourbon Barrel 1961-700925

Dist: Nov 2008 Btl: 2019/ Tasted: Mar 2019

The nose displays plenty of creamy, toffee’d oak and fragrant barley. Quite heathery, minty and herbal with the barley becoming sweeter and hints of white chocolate appearing. The oak is very prominent but not overwhelming.

The palate opens with some grittier oak but it’s balanced by some oily barley and citrus. Hints of white chocolate, coconut and almost grainy dried fruit appear as the oak gets going. Log and slightly tannic with lingering oak. Although the oak is not too intrusive on the nose, it certainly is on the palate.

Water just flattens the nose and makes the palate simpler and even though the oak has regressed somewhat it has become quite charred in character.

The Single Cask Miltonduff Tasting Notes

The Single Cask Miltonduff 1995 (21 year old) 45.8%

Cask 2594/ Dist: Feb 1995 Btl: Feb 2016/ Tasted: Jun 2017

Aromas of heather honey and hints of toasted oak and scrubby herbs. Wonderfully fragrant apricot and vanilla with barley, white fruit and minerals. it certainly doesn’t seem like it’s 21 year old, but the oak does have a slightly mature edge.

The palate is elegant, juicy and mineral with apricot, white fruit with hints of toasty oak and subtle tannins. Quite malty and heathery on the middle and now the oak starts to show some mature character. Lightly nutty and grippy finish with a light citrus and barley note. That’s a lovely finish.

Douglas Laing Miltonduff Tasting Notes

Douglas Laing Old Malt Cask Miltonduff 1990 (21 year old) 50%

Refill Bourbon Hogshead/ Code: OMC2110/ DL7921

Dist: May 1990 Btl: Nov 2011/ Tasted: Dec 2011

The nose opens with a complex plethora of wood notes (cedar, pine). Seriously robust and full of macerated citrus, stewed apple, mature honey, clove, cinnamon and a smidge of dried fruit as well. Stunningly deep and complex. With time the oak takes on that beautiful aged, sawdusty character and a slightly mentholated camphor note appears.

The palate is loaded with lightly coffee accented spices, malt extract. Like the nose it is very full and delightfully sugar coated. The middle is slightly honeyed and bursting with dried fruit. The oak is immaculately well behaved and adds a mature toasted vanilla note. Superbly balanced and very long with some heather-honey liberally coating the mouth along with those delightful spices.

Douglas Laing Old Particular Miltonduff 2000 (15 year old) 48.4%

Refill Bourbon Hogshead/ Code: OLD0233/ DL10854

Dist: July 2000 Btl: Aug 2015/ Tasted: Sept 2015

A deep, fragrant and very pleasant nose of honey, barley, pollen and juicy vanilla oak. Lightly herbal with a touch of camphor, heather and sweet fruit.

The toffee’d oak shows first, followed by heather honey, barley and soft spice. A lovely, mouth-filling middle and a long, barley and herbal finish with lingering heather , sweet honey and very gentle smoke

Douglas Laing Old Particular Miltonduff 1996 (17 year old) 48.4%

Refill Bourbon Hogshead/ Code: OLP0032/ DL9904

Dist: Mar 1996 Btl: Aug 2013/ Tasted: Sept 2013

A slightly fresh, herbal nose with baked fruit, black pepper. The aromas hint at some heavier oils beneath but it remains relatively light and herbal.

The palate is a little broader with more caramel/ toffee’d oak showing. Along with some malt and baked fruit. Medium length with an earthy, spicy, peppery finish, which is a little on the hot side.

Douglas Laing Old Particular Miltonduff 1994 (20 year old) 51.5%

Refill Bourbon Hogshead/ Code: OLD0144/ DL10425

Dist: Apr 1994 Btl: Aug 2014/ Tasted: Oct 2014

Aromas of oily toffee apple, oily marzipan, malt, burnt wood and heather honey. Quite subtle but pleasantly deep with a developing perfumed/ floral character

Soft barley and apricot led palate with unsweetened pineapple, malt and treacle toffee. It becomes very malt on the middle with hints of srubby heather. Very long and gently mouth-watering finish with warming spice, honey and vanilla.

Douglas Laing Old Particular Miltonduff 1995 (21 year old) 51.5%

Refill Bourbon Barrel/ Code: OLD0387/ DL11537

Dist: Feb 1995 Btl: Nov 2016/ Tasted: Jan 2017

Heathery and honeyed aromas with some gorgeously sawdusty vanilla oak. It becomes quite creamy with polished barley, white chocolate and subtle, sweet spice notes.

The palate is heathery and honeyed with crisp barley, straw, spice and a touch less oak. The oak starts to come through on the middle with some gentle coffee’d tannins, milk chocolate and lightly oxidised fruit. Fabulously polished and long with violets, Alsace-esque smoky white fruit, sweet vanilla a dusty oak.

Douglas Laing Old Particular Miltonduff 1992 (22 year old) 51.5%

Refill Sherry Butt/ Code: OLD0171/ DL10592

Dist: July 1992 Btl: Dec 2014/ Tasted: Mar 2015

Dusty, mature sherry wood aromas with cinnamon, pepper, nutmeg and caramelised brown sugar, mocha, raisinated dried fruit and a hint of violet.

A lovely palate of oxidised, Armagnac-esque raisin, prune and walnut with cinnamon, ginger and brown sugar. Delicious earthy-spice middle and a long dark fruit, treacle and dry spice finish.

Douglas Laing Old Particular Miltonduff 1994 (23 year old) 50.6%

Refill Bourbon Hogshead/ Code: OLD0550/ DL12200

Dist: Apr 1994 Btl: Nov 2017/ Tasted: Dec 2017

The nose is quite mature with herbal honey, fern, nettle, heather, liquorice root and stewed fruit. The wonderfully aromatic oak emerges with time along with a touch of malt and creamy vanilla.

The palate is herbal and malty with heather, violets, bracken and subtly creamy oak. Hints of stewed fruit and parma violets come through on the middle and the oak becomes pleasantly sawdusty. Long and refreshingly citric with lingering barley, spice and menthol.

Douglas Laing Provenance Miltonduff 2009 (7 year old) 46%

Refill Bourbon Hogshead/ Code: PRV1237/ DL11530

Dist: Jul 2009 Btl: Nov 2016/ Tasted: Feb 2017

The aromas are slightly ascetic with hard barley and hints of baked fruit and manure.

The palate is feinty and hard with baked fruit, barley and subtle caramel. Short and hard with bitter spice in the finish.

Gordon & MacPhail Miltonduff Tasting Notes

Gordon & MacPhail ‘Distillery Label’ Miltonduff 10 year old 40%

Tasted: Dec 2015

Herbal, Tequila-esque aromas of pulped fruit and slightly murky wood. Hints of pepper and a little creamy vanilla try to save the day!

A bit on the industrial side with old honey, dirty earth and bitter wood. Hmm, suspect casks one thinks! Very bitter finish. Tastes a lot older than 10 year of age. I would think this was bottled in miniatures because this was too shagged out to bottle in 70cl’s!