Miltonduff 14 Year (SMWS 72.117 "Black Forest Delight")

 

I'm going to come out and say it here - Miltonduff, a distillery owned by Pernod Ricard (who also own Aberlour, Glenlivet, Glen Keith, Longmorn, the ever-elusive Scapa, and the famous blends Ballantine's and Chivas Regal), is underrated. 

I can't say I've ever had a bad Miltonduff. Since the only official bottling from the distillery (apparently called "Mosstowie," according to Wikipedia??) is unavailable in North America, I've only ever had it from independent bottlers - but damn, has it been good. 

Most notably, I've had a couple of Blackadder bottlings that were rich, rich, rich. This bottle here hails from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS") and is mostly matured in a sherry cask. Here are the official notes: 

We dunked French fries into vanilla and caramel milkshake as the assembled company spread ripe plums, créme brulee and Black Forest gacteau on to burnt toast. The fries translated on to the palate, cooked in sesame oil and seasoned with parsley. A peppercorn sauce, dark chocolate and double cream followed, served with peanut butter infused with rose water. The addition of water gave us an explosion of bananas and rum, red gooseberries, sour black cherries and granny's trifle. The reduced palate was awash with golden syrup, cake batter and toasted cashews. After 10 years in an oloroso butt, we transferred this to a second fill puncheon for the remainder of its maturation.

Well, I'll be honest and say it was the French fries that sold me on this - can't say I remember ever seeing the note before. The rest is icing on the proverbial (Black Forest) cake. Bottled at 60.9%, let's see how the combination of Oloroso and heavy char #4 puncheon come together:

Nose: As expected, very rich. Sadly, I don't get French fries... but I do get creme brulee, caramel, plums, and chocolate. Some coffee, too. Cherries and dates. Tobacco. The usual suspects, in terms of sherry-matured scotch. There is a certain olive oily note that I could, sort of, conceive of as "fried food," if I squint really hard. 

Mouthfeel: Slightly on the thinner side, with a rather coarse texture. 

Palate: Interesting - black pepper, milk chocolate, cherries, blueberries, strawberries, chocolate-covered almonds, latte, leather, tobacco (wet), and blackstrap rum (!). 

The palate is big, bold, vibrant, and all the layers are quite distinct and powerful. There is a big ethanol hit but it subsides (or numbs your tongue) fairly rapidly. 

Finish: Cherries, blueberries, strawberries, and ... smoke?? Wisps of smoke for sure on the finish. Must be the remnants of that four years in #4 char. It's actually quite a nice effect, on the finish. 

Verdict: Another big, bold Miltonduff. Although it's hard to say exactly where the Miltonduff spirits ends and the casking begins here, I think the core liquid is responsible for many of the better flavors. It's a great bottle, one of the better sherry-matured offerings to come through the SMWS of late. Worth your time, although perhaps not quite as nuanced or deep as I might wish in a perfect world.