Whisky Emporium

Miltonduff / Mosstowie

Miltonduff distillery

Region: Speyside

Location: Elgin, Morayshire

Status: Operational. (owned by Pernod Ricard - Chivas Brothers)

More great distillery information here thanks to Malt Madness.

My thanks to Teun van Wel for permission to copy & use the distillery photos

Milton Duff General whisky characteristics: Complex and floral with perfume notes

Milton Duff, 12y, 43% ABV

Late 1980's bottling with green label and tube

Typical cost of this bottle; €€€€€

Nose: Malt and some fresh herbs, with an emphasis on the freshness.

Palate: Delightfully soft and smooth with some very gentle hints of creamy toffee. Thankfully, the finish is really quite long and persistent; in fact I would be happy for it to stay around all day long!

Overall Impression: Wow, I love this whisky, possibly and unbelievably, even more so than the earlier brown tube bottling (see below).

Whisky & Chocolate: This great Milton Duff in combination with the Lavendar praline by Franz was Sublime with the herbs, toffee & lavendar merging into perfection on the palate and the finish is lengthened even more.

Milton Duff, 12y, 43% ABV

Early 1980's bottling with clear label and brown tube

Typical cost of this bottle; Now €€€€€ to €€€€€

Nose: Immediately very complex, with malt, fresh herbs, almost mint-like (but not quite) and very floral.

Palate: The first sip is gentle malt. But upon swallowing it comes back with an explosion of spicy flavours, a delayed reaction! This explosion hits the front of the tongue, which I find rather strange, very pleasant, but very different as it seems to totally miss the back of the tongue. The actual flavour is very much a re-inforcement of the nose. No fruit, but malty and quite floral, although I can't identify individual flowers in there. If anything, there is a slight hint of violet.

Overall impression: A lovely dram, one which I would love to find a secret stash of and keep for personal drinking. I expected little from this one, especially as I acquired it at an excellent price a few years ago. What I get from it is a magnificent surprise and yes, I will look out for more and buy them if they are not too expensive now

Mosstowie General whisky characteristics: Coming soon

Mosstowie is the whisky distilled at MiltonDuff distillery between 1964-81 specifically in Lomond stills.

Independent Bottlers

G&M, Mosstowie, 1979-2001, 40% ABV

Connoisseur's Choice

Typical cost of this bottle; €€€€€

Glass: Classic Malt

Colour: Glowing amber

Nose: Very slightly phenolic with a rich cocktail of herbs, sherry and rum.

Palate: Slightly watery mouth-feel, but a great mixture of rich dark fruits, wood, sherry and yes, a slight hint of rum.

Finish: Medium to long, rich and slightly dry.

Overall Impression: A great flavour-bomb, but in my opinion it's slightly let down by only being 40%. If this were around 46-50% it would be magnificent.