Some serious aging for this Miltonduff – it has been slumbering in a refill ex-bourbon barrel since 1983. Deep, Rich & Dried Fruits profile.
Nose: A pronounced and heady mixture of fresh fruitiness with well-aged aromas. Tart plums, gooseberries and rhubarb stalks mix it up with cola cubes, cotton-fresh laundry and nettles. The develops substantially with resting, offering a wider selection of fruits – orange and foam bananas as well as both beeswax and wood polish. Water adds both a sense of rich syrupiness (with tinned peaches and apricots) as well emphasising cask influence, particularly in the form of cinnamon spices.
Taste: Deliciously fruity and complex. Peaches and apricots with green apples and ripe cantaloupe melon, followed by flavours of chocolate sauce and vanilla toffee. The development continues with old leather, bound books and furniture polish, before heading towards tart grapefruit and dusty but well-balanced spicing. Reduction added chocolate pralines, rye bread and hints of crystalline ginger.
Finish: Long with bright tropical fruits (guava and mango ), deep breadiness and sharp, aged polished wood.
This Miltonduff is certainly sophisticated, with a highly developed and developing palate (I guess you could call it full-throttle). There’s pronounced fruitiness, rich undertones and plenty of complexity to support its 34 years of age. Of course, this one is rather expensive (in outturn terms), but it’s still highly amendable and a real treat of emerging flavours.