Macduff 1999 14 Year Old Particular (Douglas Laing)

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Rough start, no real taste.

This was my third of three in our second round of distillery samples. This was an independent bottling that came from Duncan Taylor, as part of their Octave series releases. It's 14 years old and was offered at a cask strength of 54.6% ABV. The Macduff distillery is currently owned and operated by Bacardi. The official name is Glen Deveron due to its location next to the River Deveron, in the Scottish highlands- where they get their water source. Right now they have 3 official distillery releases: a 16, 20 and 30 year old single malt. All of their independent bottle releases use the name Macduff because Bacardi protects the Glen Deveron name for the core releases. Only about 10% of the whisky is saved for these bottles, while the rest goes to blends for Dewars and William Lawson. The nose is heavily sweet. Cereal grains, honey and bread really keep the oak and vanilla in check. It's not very hot despite the high ABV- that's a sign of just how sweet it smells. Overpowering. It's a similar experience on the palate. Sweet honey and vanilla that feels thicker than I expected. It lingers on the tongue for a bit until the heat and oak pepper begin to wreck an unexpected smoothness. This leads to the worst part of this malt- the finish. While it's a little hot, it only lasts for a short time before turning thin and dry on the tongue. The heat follows the liquid down and I found that made it harsh. If the initial nosing and sipping experience hung around I'd probably give this one higher marks than I hoped for, but the rough, one dimensional finish has me searching for cocktail recipes to help empty the last 1/3 of the bottle. I paid well over $100 for this bottle and there's no way it's worth that. I can name 2 dozen bottles I'd rather have, but hey, it's another distillery we can mark off on our Scotland tour. 3.25 stars. Cheers, friends.

DISCLAIMER: This is the 14 year old Macduff from Duncan Taylor that was distilled in 1998. There was no entry for this one so I put it here. Stop number 29 on the SDT is Macduff. This Speyside distillery is probably better known as Glen Deveron. Apparently the distillery often changes its name between the two for some unknown reason. It seems as though Macduff is hard to find as a single malt, thus we have this independent bottling from Duncan Taylor. This is a single cask bottling, bottled at cask strength of 54.6% ABV (the info I found online put it at 55.3%, but looking at the picture of Lee's bottle it looks like 54.6). This tells me that there were probably several casks purchased by Duncan Taylor. Distilled in 1998. This is natural color of yellow gold and it's non chill filtered. The nose is full and intense. Heavy cereal malt and honey. Plenty of cinnamon with oak and light toffee. Fruity with baked apples and pears, coconut and maybe some cantaloupe. Barley sugar sweetness with vanilla and caramel. A little grassy with a touch of menthol. A little bitterness comes through with cocoa powder and some licorice. There is also a waxy note with a damp/musty smell. The palate does not give any surprises in relation to the nose. Again, its heavy on the malt and honey. Black pepper, cinnamon, oak and aniseed. Baked apples and pears. More oak and wood spices. There is a good amount of heat from the high ABV but it's not too bad. Medium to full bodied mouthfeel. A bit hot and oily but turns dry. Medium length finish. Spicy and sweet with oak and malt dominating. For cask strength, this is fairly easy drinking. It's not too complex, but has a nice Speyside profile. I believe this bottle was purchased for $115. In my opinion this is too high for the quality of the scotch. I know the price has more to do with the fact that it's cask strength, independently bottled and on the rare side for a single malt, but the whisky itself is nothing special. Typical for a Speyside, but it just doesn't offer anything that a Cragganmore or Glenlivet doesn't. I wouldn't buy a bottle at this price, but maybe at $65. Thanks to Lee for the sample. 3.75. Cheers