Mosstowie 31 1979 Signatory Cask Strength Collection

Thanks to @scotchguy.to for this dram.

It’s exciting to try a new whisky, from a new “distillery”.

Wait, why did I put that in quotes?

Turns out if you go looking for a Mosstowie distillery, you’ll find Miltonduff. And if you have a date in Constantinople they’ll be waiting in Istanbul. Also, they may have been arrested by the government.

Those crazy buggers over at Miltonduff decided they’d use Lomond Stills between 1964 and 1981. A Lomond Still is a pot still at the bottom with the swan neck modified for customization, and if I saw much more I’ll get it wrong because I’m not a chemical or mechanical engineer. I don’t even know if they’d know. Maybe I need a tool and die, person? Fuck I’m just going to say it’s quite the invention and was implemented at multiple Hiram Walker distilleries. The idea behind it is it allows you to make different types of malt whiskies without having to build new distilleries.

So why don’t we hear about this mechanical marvel anymore? Turns out cleaning is really, very labour intensive. Also, the blenders who requested more flavours/whiskies turned out to just want to the original malt whiskies more than the new ones. So instead of buying Mosstowie, they were asking for more Miltonduff. It’s like the Brady Bunch, except instead of duelling sisters who’ll eventually hate each other and have psychological scars, it’s whisky.

So to start off a tasting I sat down to something that’s in quite short supply. I’ve had few Miltonduffs, and never a Mosstowie, what with capricious blenders and overworked still cleaners to blame.

There’s the idea, but what about the whisky? Well let’s see how Mosstowie 31 1979 Signatory Cask Strength Collection tastes, shall we?

Price: No longer available

Region: Speyside

Distilled on 18/05/1979

Bottled on 24/11/2010

Matured in a Hogshead

Cask No: 12908

Bottle No: 111 of 188

Abv: 46.6%

Colour: 2.5Y 8/8

Nose: Dandelion, limoncello, light chocolate, mint, brine, limestone mineral

Anyone who tries this and doesn’t think, at least eventually, about a Lowland whisky is either missing some of the better Lowlands out there or lying.

Very complex, specific flavours. Give it some time, come back to it, and… even more flavours. This just keeps changing it up, never straying too far from a floral/lemon forward dram.

Taste: Chrysanthemums, moss in the rain, mint, green birch, French fries in peanut oil, rich caramel

Rich flavours here. More floral, more of that mineral/vegetation, lovely green notes and even this fried/peanut note.

Total amazing. I actually took a 30-minute break from it, came back, and could have kept writing. But eventually, that just strains the point of a review.

Finish: Dandelion, pickled lime, ginger, cardamon, brine, chocolate with spices like in Mexico but not saying other places don’t, limestone mineral water, mojito

Some light funk, more floral and orange, even some spice and more of that mineral. The whole thing is really distinct and complex. Not to mention leaving it alone brought back up all these amazing flavours and a completely different finish. Super long as well.

Conclusion: A constantly evolving dram that keeps getting better. Water, time, new thing. Could write notes forever on it. Really is one of those “I hate this because no one is going to believe it”. It’s the Bill-Murray-showing-up-at-your-party of types of whiskies.

So should you try this if you can? Well if you’re like me, and you do enjoy that Lowland/Floral/citrus heavy profile, then no doubt. If you’re looking for something that was played around with and we won’t see much of again, then yes. And if you enjoy a good whisky, then even your dead heart will melt with it.

88/100

Scotch review #1067, Speyside review #295, Whisky review #1663