MiLTON aka MILTOWN AND MILTONDUFF DISTILLERIES

 MILTON DISTILLERY RENAMED STRATHISLA IN 1951

OLD BARRELS BOUGHT BY GORDON & MaCPHAIL BY 1949

MILTON DISTILLERY

STRATHISLA DISTILLERY KNOWN EARLIER AS MILTON DISTILLERY

In the enthralling story about Chivas Regal, in which the Chivas Brothers James and John Chivas had NO role to play, later sole owner William Mitchell was unable to handle the Company Chivas Brothers by himself in difficult times pre-WWII and sold off the entire holdings to whisky brokers Morrison & Lundie in 1936 on an 'as is' basis. Morrison & Lundie sold the Chivas Brand for just £85,000 to Canadian Samuel Bronfman’s (1889-1971) Seagram Limited Company, Samuel Bronfman was to create history thereafter.

Bronfman was on the lookout for a distillery as a home base. His agent found one in 1950 called the Milton(aka Miltown) Distillery at Strathisla, Keith. The owner, one George (Jay) Pomeroy, a known scoundrel, wanted an astronomical sum, so Bronfman backed off. But the owner was jailed that year for fraud and Milton (aka Miltown) Distillery was put up for auction. Seagram purchased Milton for £71,000 at a public auction in Aberdeen in April 1950. 

This purchase was the second time Milton Distillery had changed hands in a public auction. 

Bronfman changed its name to Strathisla, as its water came from the river Isla, pronounced exactly as the peat haven of Islay. He had unknowingly struck gold as Strathisla distillery housed a vast amount of ageing whiskies underground, both malt and grain, mainly the Strathisla Old Highland Malt Whiskies, and another warehouse beneath the Glasgow railway yard, all between 6 & 10 YO. He was not as thorough as stated, as Gordon & MacPhail (G&M) was able to lay hands on many ancient casks from Milton distillery. These were matured and released as Gordon & MacPhail specials, aged 35 years and above, up to 59 years. Some even carried the name Gordon & MacPhail Strathisla Single Malts. Most of them were bottled at 40% ABV, a downer, if there was any. There are stronger versions no doubt, but that makes the buyer's job more exacting. 

The family owned whisky company announced the release of its last cask laid down in the 1940s from Milton Distillery, which today is known as Strathisla. This is the oldest and last ever single malt to be released by the company to carry the Milton Distillery name.

To celebrate the launch, the Elgin-based bottler and distiller has created a series of videos explaining the significance of the release. 

               

Matured in a cask filled especially for G&M, the 72-Year-Old Gordon & MacPhail 1949 from Milton Distillery is exceptionally rare, with only 180 bottles available worldwide. The title pays homage to the distillery’s original name given by founder George Taylor, and it represents one of very few releases ever to carry the Milton name.

In the mid-1940s, the site was undergoing several changes in ownership which resulted in the eventual name change to Strathisla in 1951. The picturesque distillery, with its distinctive twin pagodas, has been in continuous production since the 1700s.

Despite the varied challenges of the whisky industry including economic depression and war, Milton continued to operate even when the majority of whisky production was halted in the 1940s due to a post-war scarcity of barley. It was thanks to close ties with Milton that the precious spirit was entrusted to Gordon & MacPhail to mature in a first-fill Sherry puncheon, where it would gently slumber for 72 years, finally bottled at a remarkable ABV of 48.6%. It retails at £50,000!

Once again, Gordon & MacPhail has delved into the darkest recesses of their Elgin warehouse and come up with a unique chapter in Scotland’s liquid history. This is the first time people will sample a whisky distilled at Milton Distillery - prior to it becoming known as Strathisla - which illustrates just how truly precious and important this release is.

Milton, or Strathisla as it is known today, has small copper stills with a distinctive shape that helps to give the spirit its rich, fruity and full-bodied character. Decades of experience led G&M to fill the spirit into a first fill Sherry puncheon for long-term maturation. Having carefully assessed its progress down the decades, G&M feel now is finally the right moment to reveal this landmark single malt to enthusiasts and collectors. In terms of rarity, this deserves true ‘icon status. A Gordon & MacPhail whisky of this age bearing the Milton name has never - and will never – be seen again. Its long maturation has seen the cask gift the spirit notes of toffee, spice and a hint of smoke not traditionally found in more modern Speyside releases.

Whether it was produced under the name Milton or Strathisla, greatly aged single malts from the site have always been met with anticipation. Given that so few releases have ever carried the Milton name – and that this bottling represents the oldest and the last - it is expected that the demand for the 180 decanters will be extremely high.

Tasting Notes

Matured in cask 383, a first-fill sherry puncheon, and bottled at 48.6% ABV. Out turn of 180 bottles.

Nose: Sherry influences intertwine with sweet vanilla pod and seville orange. stewed forest fruit aromas give way to vibrant festive spice and soft lemon zest.

Palate: Flavours of butterscotch give way to bright citrus and nutmeg. baked apple notes come to the fore alongside poached pear and honeycomb.

Finish: A long finish with lingering apple, dark toffee and subtle smoke. 

MILTONDUFF DISTILLERY

That name Milton features once again, with Mitonduff distillery. In 1824 Andrew Peary and Robert Bain founded the Miltonduff Distillery located south of Elgin. At that time over 50 illegal distilleries existed in the surrounding area. Miltonduff was among the first distilleries to receive a distilling licence in Scotland. The first distillery on the same spot was operated by Benedictine monks who most likely had an aqua vitae distillery. However, the truth in that statement is somewhat sketchy since there are no documents or proof thereof.

More accurately, Miltonduff distillery is a Scotch whisky distillery located six miles south-west of Elgin in the whisky region of Speyside. The distillery site 'Milton' was said to have been chosen because of the good quality of the local water source under the ownership of Pluscarden Abbey; indeed, the distillery is the site of the Abbey's former mill.

In 1866, the distillery was acquired by William Stuart (owner of the Highland Park Distillery who eventually entered business with Thomas Yool and Company in 1890), when the distillery was expanded and reached production of over one million litres of alcohol. Yool and Co. went on to become sole owners of the distillery. In 1960, the distillery was notable as the pioneer of a new method of heating the wash stills (through a series of heat exchanges and a diffuser).

Between 1964 and 1981 Miltonduff produced a whisky called Mosstowie along with Miltonduff. The owners at the time, Hiram Walker & Sons, produced large amounts of several types of blends and thus had a huge demand for different kinds of malt. A pair of Lomond stills was installed, which had an additional condenser in the head. The condenser made it possible to alter the reflux action in a controlled manner and thus widen the character and style of its malts. Mosstowie was produced using the Lomond stills starting 1964.

In 1981 production of the Mosstowie ceased when it became apparent that the new stills didn’t work well in the long run; the plates in the column quickly became covered in residue and proved to be very difficult to clean and maintain. Also, the competition with the distillery’s other brand made the demand for Mosstowie dwindle when the demand for Miltonduff increased, so space and resources were used to expand Miltonduff instead. The stills were cannibalised when a new set of traditional stills were built and the annual production ended up at 5.4 million litres. Gordon & MacPhail have bottled a few Mosstowie’s as single malts, very rare to come by, though The Lost Distilleries Company did try their hand at replicating numerous lost distilleries, including Mosstowie as a blended malt.

One wonders what the monks would have made of it. As said, moonshining was commonplace in the surroundings of Pluscarden Abbey in the smuggling era of the late 18th and early 19th century. The original monastery fell into ruin in the early 17th century, but was restored in 1948 and is now the only medieval monastery still inhabited by monks. Distillation certainly took place at Milton Farm where the abbey’s old meal mill once stood.

Miltonduff (the suffix comes from Duff family which owned the estate) went legal in 1824 and by the end of the century was one of the largest producers in Scotland, making in excess of one million litres a year and using triple distillation (an unusual technique for Highland/Speyside distilleries).

Its next landmark came in 1936 when Yool sold to Canadian distiller Hiram Walker which was beginning its Scottish expansion (Ballantine’s, Dumbarton), with three pairs of stills now operating. In 2005 it became part of Chivas Brothers.

A very fresh, floral new make character shows Miltonduff to be a charming, light single malt, perfect for adding top notes to the restrained and elegant Ballantine’s blend. Its palate has a succulent texture.  

Miltonduff was, briefly, part of Allied Distiller’s Caledonian Malts range (alongside Laphroaig, Tormore, Scapa and Glendronach) but other than a limited edition 18-year-old cask strength bottling, no official releases have taken place under Chivas Brothers'  ownership. Licensed bottlings are made under the auspices of Gordon & MacPhail..G&M also specialises in releasing whiskies from distilleries that have vanished, like Mosstowie and St Magdalene, among others. The distillery site was expanded with the construction of Allied Distillers' Malt Technical Centre, laboratory, engineering department and management offices.

In July 2017 Miltonduff was released as a 15-year-old single malt (alongside expressions from Glentauchers and Glenburgie) under the Ballantine’s brand. 

THE EXQUISITE PRIVATE COLLECTION

Itis not yet known if G&M has barrels of Auchnagie, Stratheden, Gerston, Jericho / Benachie, Lossit, Towiemore, Dundashill and Archivist distilleries. which blended malts were made vailable by the Lost Distillery Company in 2021.

MINUTIAE

Whisky Production:

Miltonduff distillery equipment consists of a mash vat with a capacity of 15 tons, eighteen fermenters with a capacity of 5 tons and three pairs of alembics. The distillery now has a production capacity of 5.80 million litres of whisky per year. The water used to make whisky comes from the Black Burn stream. The distillery also has an extensive warehouse complex. For ageing distillates, sherry casks made of American white oak are most often used here.

Lomond Stills

As stated, the Miltonduff distillery houses the research and experimental centre for the whole Scotch whisky industry. One of the best known results of the work of the Miltonduff researchers was the development of the Lomond still, also called Mosstowie still, from the whisky produced in it.

TIMELINE

1824    Established (Andrew Peary & Robert Bain)
1866    Purchased by William Stuart
1890s  Thomas Yool & Co join Stuart and extend the distillery
1936   Taken over by Hiram Walker-Gooderham &Worts Ltd
1937    Hiram Walker & Sons (Scotland) Ltd take control
1964    2 Lomond stills added for production of “Mosstowie”
1974    Rebuilding work adds more wash backs
1981    Mosstowie stills changed to increase production of Miltonduff.
            Mosstowie no longer produced.
1992    Allied Distillers acquire control
2005    Fortune Brands Inc. acquire control. 
2005    Pernod Ricard hands over distillery to Chivas Brothers Holdings

 

WHISKY MAGAZINE AWARDS 2024

World Whiskies Awards 2024 | World Drinks Awards

WHISKY MAGAZINE AWARDS 2024

THE BALIVADA XR SHERRY CASK FROM GOA INDIA

The global winners in the World Whiskies Awards 2024 competitions were announced at function in London on 18 March 2024.

Whisky Magazine has been presenting the results of its World Whiskies Awards for 24 years (beginning as the Best of the Best competition in 2001). This year’s announcement represents the culmination of a rigorous blind-judging process that saw more than 200 judges from around the globe assess more than 1,500 different whiskies from more than 40 countries. The competition named its World’s Best winners across 23 categories, including single malt, blended, pot still and others. They were categorized as Best, Gold, Silver and Bronze as rated by the judges.

SINGLE MALT WHISKY

World's Best Single Malt: The English Sherry Cask, 46% ABV, England 

INDIAN SINGLE MALT WHISKY: 

BEST Indian Single Malt: Indri Drú, 57.2% ABV, NAS

Gold: Indri Drú, 57.2% ABV, NAS 

Silver: Indri Diwali Collector's Edition 2023, 60.5% ABV, NAS

Bronze: The Kadamba XR Sherry Cask Collection 42.80% ABV, NAS 

SCOTCH SINGLE MALT WHISKY:

BEST Overall Scotch Single Malt, Glen Moray Phoenix Rising, 40% ABV, NAS

BEST Scotch Speyside: Glen Moray Phoenix Rising, 40% ABV, NAS

BEST Scotch Speyside By Age

• 12 Years & Under, GlenAllachie 12 YO, 48% ABV

• 13 to 20 Years, GlenAllachie 15 YO, 48% ABV

• 21 Years & Older, Aultmore 21 YO , 46% ABV

GlenAllachie has been a single malt standout of late, consistently garnering awards in international whisky competitions.

BEST Scotch Highlands: Glencadam, Reserva PX Cask, NAS, 46% ABV

• 12 Years & Under Cu Bocan, Batch #1, 12 YO, 46% ABV,

• 13 to 20 Years, Old Pulteney, 18 YO, 46% ABV,

• 21 Years & Over, Royal Brackla, 21 YO, Oloroso, Palo Cortado and Pedro Ximénez Finish, 46% ABV 
  

BEST Scotch Campbeltown Glen Scotia Victoriana, NAS, 54.2% ABV

• 12 Years & Under: Glen Scotia Icons of Campbeltown: The Mermaid, 54.1% ABV

• 13 to 20 Years: Glen Scotia, 15 YO, 46% ABV.

BEST Scotch Islands: Arran, Quarter Cask, The Bothy, NAS, 56.1% ABV

• 13 to 20 Years: Jura, 15 YO Sherry Cask, 42.8% ABV.

BEST Scotch Islay, 21 Years & Over:  Ardbeg, 25 YO, 46% ABV.

• Gold: Ardbeg Uigeadail, NAS, 54.2% ABV;

• 12 Years & Under, Bowmore, 12 YO, 40% ABV,

• 13 to 20 Years, Bowmore 15 YO, 43% ABV.

BEST Scotch Islay Small Batch Single Malt: That Boutique-y Whisky Company Islay 8 Years Old

BEST Scotch Lowlands: Auchentoshan, Three Woods, NAS, 43% ABV 

• 13 to 20 Years: Bladnoch, 19 YO, 46.7% ABV.

JAPANESE SINGLE MALT

BEST Japanese Single Malt: Yoichi 10 YO

BEST Japanese Single Malt

• 12 Years & Under: Yoichi 10 YO

• Gold: Ichiro's Malt Chichibu Red Wine Cask

• Silver: Yoichi 10 Years Old

TAIWANESE SINGLE MALT

BEST Taiwanese Single Malt:Kavalan Distillery Select No.2 NAS Taiwan

SINGLE CASK SINGLE MALT WHISKY

BEST Scotch Campbeltown Single Cask Single Malt

Glen Scotia, Cask 637 Refill Bourbon Barrel, Scotland

BEST Scotch Highlands Single Cask Single Malt 21 Years & Over

Loch Lomond, Cask 57 Refill American Oak Hogshead, Scotland

 BLENDED WHISKY

BEST BLENDED SCOTCH : Ballantine's 30 Years Old

GOLD:

• Chivas Regal 18 Years Old

• Ballantine's  21 Years Old

• Hankey Bannister 12 Years Old Regency

• NAS: Ardnamurchan Maclean's Nose

BLENDED MALT

BEST Scotch Blended Malt: Dewar's Double Double 37 Years Old

GOLD:

• The Lost Distillery Company Towiemore Archivist Micro-Batch Selection

• Chivas Regal Ultis XX

• Royal Salute 21 Years Old The Malts Blend

INTERNATIONAL BLENDED

BEST International Blended: Migita, Japan, Blended Bourbon Style 

GOLD:

• Kaichi Blended Whisky, Japan, NAS, 43% ABV 

SILVER:

• St. Kilian Distillers:Terence Hill - The Hero - Whisky Mild, NAS, 46% ABV, Germany

 
                                                                        

 

PRIZE WINNING SINGLE MALTS FROM GOA INDIA

 

    BALIVADA        KADAMBA        SECRET ISLAND

 

WHAT'S YOUR WHISKY?

DIAGEO LAUNCHES ‘WHAT’S YOUR WHISKY?’ DIGITAL
PROFILING TOOL AT EUROPEAN AIRPORTS

Diageo Global Travel has launched the ‘What’s Your Whisky?’ digital tool into travel retail. The tool enables whisky fans, from novices to enthusiasts, to find the perfect Scotch or whisky to suit their tastes.

It is rolling out with ARI at Lisbon and Faro airports, and with Aelia Duty Free at London City and Paris Orly airports this summer.

The tool features an interactive questionnaire, powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI), that draws upon a wealth of consumer and distiller insights. The tool uses AI, customer insights, interactive visual cues and a questionnaire to assess consumer’s individual whisky preferences before making recommendations from the Diageo portfolio

THE COUNTER IN LONDON

The platform uses easy-to-understand visual cues and consumer-friendly questions to assess each user’s preferences over a range of sweet, fruity, spicy and smoky whisky flavours. The data is then collected to create each consumers’ personal ‘flavour print’ which allows the technology to recommend whisky options with a flavour profile that matches the consumer’s.

The ‘What’s Your Whisky?’ experience allows consumers to explore the full range of our Scotch and whiskies in a personalised and completely new way. Rolling this out at scale will help thousands of people find their perfect whisky based on the innovative Flavour Print AI technology. This technology Diageo has already been deploying to great success at the Johnnie Walker Princes Street experience in Edinburgh is now available at travel retail.

                     

PORT ELLEN REOPENS

'GHOST’ WHISKY DISTILLERY IN SCOTLAND
REOPENS AFTER 40 YEARS

 

Port Ellen, once the remnants of a "ghost" distillery on Islay, a great source of peated whisky in Scotland, is now an ultra exclusive distillery with a luxurious and polished blueprint.

Port Ellen was founded in 1825 on the island of Islay, known for its smoky whiskies. For more than 150 years, the distillery produced peated whisky, which was mostly used for blends as opposed to single malts.  In 1983, the workhorse distillery closed due to an excess of single malt whisky production in the area. The surplus forced a number of whisky-making locations to close in order to promote the financial robustness of larger companies.

In the years since, the site was used for malting barley. That didn’t last long. As whisky fans, collectors, and aficionados discovered there were still barrels of Port Ellen whisky hidden away in warehouses around Scotland, the liquid gained in popularity—and increased in price. In 2017, parent company Diageo announced that the distillery would be rebuilt and reopened.

There are several highly regarded ghost distilleries throughout Scotland, a term that refers to distilleries that were shuttered decades ago but still release whisky from barrels tucked away in warehouses throughout the country. Some of the prominent ones are Auchnagie, Stratheden, Gerston, Lossit and Towiemore, among others. But none as familiar as Port Ellen and its astronomical prices when released by parent company Diageo. The distillery officially reopened end March 2024 after seven years and a £185 million investment.

The new Port Ellen distillery has a completely fresh design, featuring a glass stillhouse, two pairs of copper pot stills that are exact replicas of the original stills, and a set of experimental stills that will be used for smaller batch whiskies (whisky production got underway early this year). The rest of the distillery was completely modernised as well, including the roller mill, the laboratory, the spirit safe, and a sustainability effort that has made it completely carbon neutral. The team is also launching a special programme to study smoke, which will use algorithmic imagery to decipher how the peat levels in the whisky respond to aging.

Port Ellen was a flavour factory for creating a sweet, smoky type of Islay whisky. For the reopening of Port Ellen, what they wanted to do was create two different styles of whisky there, that still had the same style that Port Ellen was known for. What they wanted to do was recreate the stills to the exact specifications as they were before it closed in 1983.

Among the eight million items within Diageo’s renowned alcohol archive lie the blueprints for the stills of Port Ellen from decades ago. The originals have been recreated. While some of the once-abandoned features of the distillery were replicated, Port Ellen reopened with a number of modern improvements and functional elements.

Port Ellen is a private oasis, and visitors will need to request an appointment in advance. Walk-ins are encouraged at other distilleries on Islay, including Caol IIa and Lagavulin. Visitors finish up with a tasting of some of the liquid from that distillery from before it closed in 1983 as a luxury experience.

The transformed construction subtly nods to the history of the ghost of Port Ellen, but there is one timeless relic that is crucial to today’s whisky emergence. Iain McArthur, a former employee of Port Ellen, recently retired after a noteworthy career in whisky making. The remnant cask that is presently being used by Port Ellen to create Gemini, a newly released whisky, was saved by McArthur before the original distillery closed down.

He took it from Port Ellen to Lagavulin, and that's what Diageo took back to Port Ellen for the recent bottling. This was a critical, intrinsic part in, not only the distillery story, but also in saving that wonderful barrel.

THE ANALYSES

For two years, Diageo analyzed various Scotch whiskies using AI and algorithms. They invested $230 million in a portfolio of whisky tourism projects. A portion of this lump sum was dedicated to the exploration of whisky maturation using technology called SmokeDNAi.

The announcement of SmokeDNAi comes on the heels of Port Ellen’s reopening in Scotland after 40 years with modern advancements to both construction and whisky-making.

Using SmokeDNAi, teams tested and analysed the flavour profiles and mouthfeel of non-identical twin whiskies distilled in different casks – one remnant and one original. The pair of rare whiskies is named Port Ellen Gemini, and each bottle costs $50,000.

The purpose of the analysis is to better understand whisky aging in a barrel.

SmokeDNAi technology: SmokeDNAi technology is used by Diageo to test and analyze mouth-feel and flavors of liquids from different casks. They want to have a slow maturation in a barrel where they’re controlling the flavour. They get a much better understanding of why they taste the way they taste, or why they smell the way they smell, or the mouth-feel.

Between two whisky casks from Port Ellen, the vanilla characteristic, vanillin, varied. One cask contained around 3%, while the other included more than double, around 6%. The remnant cask contained liquors from the 1960s and 1980s. Port Ellen can leverage data sets in order to maximize production, flavour and sales of whisky and new blends in the future.

Using samples of whisky, the liquid is put through a chemical analysis process, gas chromatography or liquid chromatography, and data sets of distinct components are broken down by an algorithm. Diageo then uses SmokeDNAi technology and Out of the Ether designs to create a visualization of the flavour profiles of liquors.

WHISKY vs WHISKEY: THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE BROWN LIQUORS

It basically takes a signature of that liquid, and then it gives analysts a reading or a spike reading of the different compounds that are in there. Diageo wanted to do was demystify that and make it easy. Diageo also sought to offer consumers taste and flavour through sight. Out of the Ether, "an algorithmic machine generated work of art that harnesses SmokeDNAi technology," according to Diageo, produces imagery of whisky smoke over time. Design experts, in collaboration with Bose Collins, worked to produce visuals that are more easily digested by a consumer versus data sets.

They have, for example, an overlay with the chemical name like vanillin, which smells and tastes like vanilla. Here, whisky enthusiasts can gaze at flavour combinations, aromas and unambiguous profiles that wouldn’t be visible to the naked eye.

On the visual, observers will see the small amounts of one particle that moves around. Then, there's a larger cloud in there and then that will show them the percentile of these compounds that sit in there. Visual profiles may include a combination of coconut, smoky, earthy, medicinal, floral and sweet flavours. It gives the observer a really great, at a glance, visualisation of what's going on inside the barrel, a much, much clearer understanding of your own whisky.