Old Mosstowie vs. young Miltonduff


September 24, 2021

Old Mosstowie vs. young Miltonduff

We shan't explain how and when Mosstowie was made, we did that several times already and I'm sure you know. Bingo, well done, a pair of Lomond stills at Miltonduff, from 1964 to 1981. There's a brand new one at LMDW but since we haven't got any other yet-untasted Mosstowie anywhere at Château WF, we'll rather have a young Miltonduff instead as the steppingstone…

Miltonduff 11 yo 2009/2021 (59.7%, Infrequent Flyers, PX puncheon, cask #6341, 646 bottles)

Nice newish label by Alistair Walker, in the style of LMDW's Transcontinental Rum Line or Jack Wiebers' Great Ocean liners. Ah, travelling with style… Colour: brownish amber. Nose: raisins and raisin cake, a little gunpowder, black nougat, Christmas cake (apologies), millionaire shortbread, bettelman, clafoutis… Well you see what I mean, there's a high yet rather cleaner PX impact. With water: more raisins and some walnut wine, triple-sec, fig wine and peonies early in the morning, then lavender and liquorice. Very nice but perhaps a tad heady. Mouth (neat): extremely sweet and raisiny, and extremely strong as well. Rather stuffy this far, but let's see what water will do to this shameless concoction… With water: it's cool, many wood spices coming out, pencil shavings, cedarwood, some black tea… That suggests active oak, either new or classically rejuvenated, if not STR. Finish: long, the buoyant oak having taken over. Comments: pretty good and certainly flawless, but this modern soup, as it was prepared, is not quite my preferred style.
SGP:641 - 79 points.

So, the old uncle…

Mosstowie 40 yo 1979/2021 (51%, La Maison du Whisky, Artist, bourbon, cask #12758, 150 bottles)

So remember, Lomond stills at Miltonduff, from 1964 to 1981. Indeed, you could gather that after these late-1970s vintages, they decided to cut their losses, so to speak. Oh and I know the numbers do not quite add-up, but remember the fine folks at LMDW like their funny rituals, such as rounding down the ages of some of their bottlings. Yeah, just like ageing Hollywood actresses do. Colour: gold. Nose: I would wager that any Lomondness would be lost after more than 40 years, not even sure I could describe that Lomondness in the first place, as I'm not sure I ever actually noticed any increased 'lightness' or 'floralness'. What we get here is rather some nice ripe yellow fruits (mirabelles, peaches, apricots, quinces) and a very distant mentholy side brought by the old wood. Doesn't feel re-racked at all, but I could be wrong. Notes of bananas. With water: nosing some precious fresh green tea from a genuine old wild tea tree, also fresh nuts, cashews, almonds, even homemade peanut butter... Mashed potatoes as well, grand-chef style. A lot of butter. Mouth (neat): pretty good, a tad gritty thanks to the oak, almost cigary, with a feeling of biting cider apples. With water: starts to sing. Pineapples and pink grapefruits, oranges, a little eucalyptus (cough medicine), sage, fresh parsley, chlorophyll… Some sides remind me of some all-herbs pesto, I should try to sprinkle some spaghetti with this one. I shall (may) report back. Finish: medium, rather on yellow fruits, then chestnut purée and halva in the aftertaste. Touches of menthol. Comments: pretty intellectual, not easy to read (well it's not Hegel either), without any 'obvious' aspects or sides. In a way, it'll all depend on how you would like to see it; to taste it. We shouldn't score these.
SGP:551 - 89 points.