Tasting 5 (+1) MacDuffs

4 bottlings from the excellent James MacArthur's, two bottled at 55.5% and one at 55.7%, perhaps mid-50's is a good strength for this whisky? Usually named Glen Deveron by the distillery. Macduff is a young distillery established as late as 1962 and is mostly produced for blending purposes, still there's a lot of IB bottlings out there, and the standard OB is not hard to obtain. I think, based on other bottlings I've tried, this is a whisky to look out for. And the cow is in front of a barely visible 1 ltr. Debowa polish vodka cask.











Macduff 12yo 40% Blend House of Macduff

I'm not sure how much Macduff there is in this little bottling, but looking at the logo its easy to confuse it with a Macduff bottling. The color is the standard blend golden hue. It smells light and dusty, some mineral notes and hay. The taste is sweet, nutty, oaky, honey, nice, quite a surprise actually. It's a delicate blend, but there's no off-notes, flaws or anything like that.

Nice, clean and fun whisky: 4.5


Macduff 12yo 40% James MacArthur's

Maybe a bit like the standard OB, light and sweet? The color is straw. It smells sweet, creamy, malty, yeasty, leeks, very nice. The taste is burnt, sweet, rubber, acidic, earthy, spicy, yeast, licorice. Complex for this age and strength. I will try adding some water in this one. Now it gets lighter, sweeter, grassy, more in the blend zone now.

Another nice, clean and good fun: 4.5


Macduff 30yo 53.2% James MacArthur's Old Master's

I must say I think the Old Master's series by James MacArthur's is one of the real "solid gold" series out there. The color is butterscotch. It smells sweet and creamy, cinnamon, honey, cigar, oily, cheese, onion, rubber. The taste is sweet, hay, herbs, sausages, peppery, chillies, raw onions, salty, vegetable stock. The finish is long, all on chili and herbs.

A whisky with a lot of heat: 6.5


Macduff 21yo 55.5% James MacArthur's Fine Malt Selection

Another golden colored whisky. The Fine Malt Selection is another CS series, which most (almost all) of James MacArthur's output is. It smells peppery, honey, cinnamon, fried bananas, yoghurt, sour milk. The taste is peppery and spirity, needs some water to open up. With a small addition of water it becomes sweeter, red wine, raw onions, wheat, oil, peanuts, chili, rubber.

Peppery, strong stuff, but lacks some contrasting elements: 5


Macduff 27yo 1967-1994 55.5% James MacArthur's 500 Years of Scotch Whisky

To celebrate the 500th anniversary of Scotch Whisky, James MacArthur's bottled some whiskies. So it's not really a series, but some of them have been fantastic. The color is deep golden. It smells rich, butter, herbs, red bell peppers, peppery, dirty harry licorice liqueur, jägermeister, leather, a more fun and expressive nose this time. The taste is fiery, raw onions, peppers, chillies, corn starch. Adding some water. Now it gets lighter, red onions, turmeric, shrimps sauce, cashew nuts, raw eggs, nutty, corn. The finish is peppery and long, not complex.

The rawest in this session, but not necessarily the best: 6


Macduff 19yo 55.7% Whisky-Doris

I've had an absolute top notch Tamdhu from Whisky-Doris, so it shows they can pick a good cask. I remember that Tamdhu being sort of grey-ish brown, typical fino-sherried, and such color has this one as well. It smells sweet honey, gun-powder, crushed mint leaves, oily, creamy, red wine, port wine, dark berries. The taste is sweet, peppery, malty, cinnamon, dry, caramel, burnt sugar, a lot of cinnamon and chili. Hot whisky with a sweetness that prolongs the finish. I have to say that in this session this one is the absolute winner.

Creamy thick bitter-sweet sherried whisky: 8

(Oh yes, last time I tried this W-D I gave it 9+.)



Next tasting: Ben Nevis Distillery