Macduff 23 Year (1997), The Single Cask 5233
Whisky: Macduff 23 Year (1997), The Single Cask 5233
Country/Region: Scotland/Highlands
ABV: 51%
Cask: First Fill Oloroso Sherry Hogshead Finish
Age: 23 Years (Distilled 9 Sept. 1997, Bottled 16 Oct. 2020)
Nose: Orchards and orchard fruits in the autumn, earth, fruit, musty vegetation, hints of brine and stone, slightly industrial, malty pastries and yeast— delightfully old-fashioned and herbal.
Palate: Medium-bodied, orchard fruits and fermented yeast, grains, herbs, malty pastries, very musty and herbal, woody.
Finish: Long and slightly peppery with wood, grain, and herbs.
Score: 8 (87)
Mental Image: Time Traveling Whisky
Narrative & Notes: The aroma kicked off in an apple orchard, picking up fallen fruits and dusting them off as earth, fruit, and a vegetative mustiness developed. Hints of the sea with stoney sea walls and an abandoned ferry terminal appeared ahead of more typical malty pastries and fermenting yeast— a bit like a recently drained wooden mash tun. Medium-bodied with plenty of sweet fruits and musty fermentation— grain chaff sat in one room with mash tuns in various states of fermentation in the other. Apples, herbs, and pastries lingered in the background as the whisky maintained an almost aggressive musty herbal quality. The finish was long and slightly peppery with waterlogged oak, grain chaff, and dried herbs.
The flavors were so remarkably old-fashioned that I was shocked it came from 1997 and not 1967. The herbal, grainy, and fermented notes on this are exceedingly rare now and I am unsure if they came from the malt or the oloroso finish, which felt incredibly subtle for a first fill hogshead. There are some Ardmore from this era with similar old-fashioned herbal qualities, but this was striking with its rustic charm, and totally unlike any Macduff I have tried.
Overall, probably a one for the whisky-heads or anyone who loves old-fashioned flavor profiles. Not at all the sherry bomb I expected looking at the bottle information— I am not entirely convinced someone did not accidentally bottle a whisky from a much earlier epoch.
Image Credit: The Whisky World
