No Macduff for 10 months and then two come along in the space of a few weeks. Of all the distillates to double-down on for the 2020 Boutique-y Advent calendar, this one surprises me. Especially since it’s a mere year older than the Batch 10 we reviewed at the start of the month, and is a batch that preceded it. And indeed, if you’re looking for any musings on Macduff, smack the link above – I’m loathe to repeat myself in such short order.
Batch 6 of Boutique-y’s Macduff offering is a release of 1,237 bottles delivered at 48% ABV. I’m not immediately seeing any bottles for sale. If you’re looking for some Boutique-y Macduff, then Batch 8 is seemingly where it’s currently at – for a shy under £60.
Nose: Yeasty buns, red apples and soft caramel are sweetened by golden syrup, nougat and bourbon biscuits, whilst barley water and toasted cereals are joined by background vinous vegetal notes. Dilution offers honey spread over toast alongside a scattering of orange peels.
Taste: Tart toffee apple – straddling the midway point between pleasantly lavish and slightly too acerbic. Plenty of maltiness from golden barley and breakfast cereals and peppy spicing from ginger cake and cask-influenced pepper. Cider apples provide additional sharpness whilst bitter dark chocolate joins oven-baked buns and mineral/metal note of copper piping. The addition of water offers a similar overall composition with a reduced sourness and the introduction of softly ginger spiced pear.
Finish: Medium with souring apples and persistent barley sugars.
I can’t help but thinking that the position of Macduff 11 year old Batch 6 in this year’s Advent calendar should have been swapped with that of Batch 10 which appeared behind door no.2. Not only was Batch 6 bottled last year – and thus is chronologically before batch 10 – but this edition feels altogether less honed. There’s still plenty of natural malty flavours and the typical idiosyncrasies one would expect from Macduff – but the composition is much tarter and sourer and less opulently toffee-d. If you’re going to throw two at us – please put the nicer (matter of opinion of course) one closer to Christmas.
I wonder if Sorren also found this second Macduff less compelling? I’ll be popping over to OCD Whisky to find out. More from me tomorrow.
Review calendar provided by Atom Brands