1988 Miltonduff, Single Cask, 57.5%, Gordon & Macphail

Whilst wine is a passion of mine, I have to say that I really love whisky too and rarely turn down the opportunity to sample some (I do draw the line at 6am airport samples in the duty free section, sometimes). A few years back I had the opportunity to take a more in depth role within the whisky buying at FINE+RARE and, thanks to our close relationship with Gordon & MacPhail, the famous independent bottler based in Elgin, Speyside, I wanted to explore if it were possible for us to bottle our own exclusive barrels – something which was becoming ever more common at the time. It turned into a near year-long project, culminating in a fantastic couple of days spent with some F+R colleagues visiting their distillery at Benromach, plus their immense warehouses in Elgin. This was a true revelation. Thousands upon thousands of barrels of all shapes and sizes, some as old as 1940, slowly maturing in the cool north of Scotland. G&M have a saying that it is the wood that makes the whisky and it really rings true – for a whisky to still taste incredible after 20, 30, 40 years or more is remarkable and rare. Really rare. Most don’t make it anywhere near as far and are instead blended for younger (or non) age statements. The first iteration of the series we released was a 1993 Balblair – a beautiful 23 YO first-fill Bourbon cask which was hand selected following this trip. I might be biased of course, but I thought it was amazing and couldn’t wait for what would be next. Enter the 1988 Miltonduff! For those not familiar with Miltonduff, the distillery was founded in 1824 and is located six miles south-east of Elgin in Speyside. Nowadays, much of Miltonduff’s whisky goes into world famous blends, making bottlings of their pure single malt incredibly rare. In fact, most bottlings of Miltonduff dating from the 1970s, '80s and '90s, were actually bottled as 10 and 12 year old expressions, making this 29 year old malt, of which just 141 bottles were filled, very special indeed. Shortlisted by Stephen Rankin, then UK Sales Director and Great Grandson of G&M founder John Urquhart, F+R selected it out of a line-up of beautiful drams. It holds a special place for me having been able to initiate the project which brought this to market. I would highly recommend and hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

This rare Miltonduff single malt has a very fresh, floral new make character that is utterly charming. Expect vanilla cream, ripe pear and blossom honey from a delicate dram that carries its cask strength with aplomb. The palate has a succulent texture and the un-peated, lighter style makes it perfect for early evenings and summer days.