I recently had a chance to enjoy a sample pour from “ghosted”, Speyside distillery Pittyvaich. The 12 year old pour was part of Diageo’s original Flora & Fauna series. Pittyvaich was located in Dufftown and was built and opened in 1974, by Arthur Bell & Sons. They produced whisky primarily for blends and had one official distillery bottling in 1991. They closed in 1993 and all building were demolished in 2002- so, no chance of a grand rebirth here. This sample was generously provided by my friend Pranay. I believe he paid somewhere north of $400 for this bottle. It’s a beautiful, new penny copper in the Glencairn but I believe it is chill filtered and has added color. It produces runny, thick legs and leaves medium sized droplets behind on the rim when you spin it. It was bottled at 43% ABV. The nose had some faint rye notes to match heavy molasses, toffee and burnt sugar. There were hints of the sherry cask maturation, but it smelled more like an American rye than a Speyside scotch. The palate was very buttery- relying heavily on Christmas cake and roasted nuts for its primary flavoring. There was some sweet sherry there along with some peppery rye. I didn’t get a lot of depth, though. The finish was short-to-medium with baking spices and pepper hanging around. Very warming. Overall, it wasn’t anything close to what I was expecting, but it was also quite enjoyable and different. I’m tempted to bump my score up to a full 4 stars because it’s rare, but mostly it was pretty tasty. A big thanks to @PBMichiganWolverine because I know I’d never have tasted this one otherwise. Cheers.