Years ago, in the before time, I was at a bar with my family and was asked if I’d ever reviewed a Miltonduff. I said no, one was ordered, I loved it, wanted more.
A few years later I needed to pick a whisky for my 1,000 Scotch review. As I say a lot of dick jokes I found a Scotch with a juvenile penis joke that also happened to be a Miltonduff. I enjoyed it quite a bit and was totally professional about it all.
Because of the previous success with this distillery I thought it was bulletproof. I bought a sample of it that a bullet couldn’t even cure.
Since then the question I’ve asked myself over and over is as follows: Did I fluke out with the first two Miltonduff?
Enter Miltonduff 12 2006 Cadenhead Single Cask. I’m a big fan of the Cadenhead’s single cask line. I seem to have had good luck with ex-bourbon casks and Miltonduff. This is full cask strength and has a proper age, closer to the ones I liked.
So let’s get back out there with some more, if for no other reason than to see if I should have grabbed more of the first two, shall we?
Price: € 70
Region: Speyside
Vintage: 2006
Bottled: 2018
Cask type: Bourbon Hogshead
Number of bottles: 234
Abv: 54.1%
Colour: 7.5Y 9/4
Nose: Cereal, cream, sugar, lemon, smoke, floral
Subtle at first. I’m getting generic flavours that build with time. I’m expecting more with time, but it’s really not going anywhere.
If I was to compare it to something, I’d say the nose is where you’re at right before you start making a lemon loaf. You have all the ingredients “mise-en-place” however you haven’t really done much yet.
Taste: Cereal, caramel, smoke, pear, oak
Oh. The interesting acidity is gone. It’s just simple smoke (which I love) and oak with some side characters.
This is like a DnD game with no RP and the fight’s are quick because the DM’s NPC beat them easily. Nothing really there.
Finish: Smoke, cereal, lemon, anise, caramel, floral
It’s pretty generic and ends pretty quick. Water brings out a floral note that makes it slightly interesting. Only slightly.
Geez, this was all negative, eh? Too bad.
Conclusion: Becomes floral with water and opens up. Otherwise this ends up quite sugary and kinda meh. The whole thing is somewhat interesting with the lemon but that’s all. It’s a slight step up from a very, very generic bottom shelf pick. And you’re paying a premium for that sadly.
I really wanted to like this more but it’s slow to grow, slow to develop, and never really gets there. It’s not bad: If you’re a big fan of whisky and looking for a slight step up then you’ll be happy with it. It’s sale fodder otherwise and I don’t know why you’d bottle it up other than to make some space. Should have been used in a blend.
63/100
Scotch review #1429, Speyside review #403, Whisky Network review #2116
tomoderawhisky.ca 