From the Highland region, our next North Star Series 5 exploring 5 regions in Scotland was from the Mac Duff distillery, best known for their Glen Deveron brand.

Our guest reviewer Rekha Sharma has been part of the Whisky Ladies of Mumbai from the start.

Having lived a fairly nomadic existence since a young age, Rekha gained over two decades of varied corporate & entrepreneurial experience.

From cable media industry in Hongkong with Disney Challen then Turner Networks (CNN), she then moved to New York where she founded & managed a retail business in Manhattan, combining an Asian antique store with an art gallery & a cafe/bar.

Now living in India, Rekha manages a serviced apartments business in Bombay,  being a part of a rapidly changing economic & social landscape that is India today.

Above all, Rekha enjoys the arts, cooking, interior design, travelling & good whiskey!

Here is what she has to say…

Macduff 11 year (Nov 2006/May 2018) 55.2%

• Nose – Dish water soap, very light, flowers, flirting with us by running away then gently re-appearing, red delicious apple, balsa wood and some lovely ripe bananas
• Palate – Peach, apricots, metallic, almost eggy, liquorice
• Finish – Bitter walnut, big red chewing gum
• Water – Much better! Really brings out more with this one and gave it a somewhat sweet, creamy finish

It was a friendly easy drinking dram and hard to imagine it was cask strength!

The North Star Macduff was bottled from a refill bourbon hogshead, un-chill filtered, natural colour with only 240  bottles.

North Star’s tasting notes:

• Nose: Red apple & that smell you get when rain hits hot tar macadam
• Palate: Instantly creamy & sweet, like my mum’s custard
• Finish: The crispy topping on a creme brûlée 

This whisky was purchased online from Master of Malt in August 2018 for £53.76 / USD 70 / INR 5,080 and was opened in November 2018.

Don’t miss the other Whisky Ladies guest reviews of North Star Series 005 whiskies covering 5 Scottish regions:

• Speyside – Glentauchers 11 year (Apr 2007/May 2018) 58.9% by Nikolina Berg
• Campbeltown – Campbeltown 4 year (2014/2018) 57% by Paula McGlynn
• Island – Orkney 12 year (Mar 2006/May 2018) 57.8% by Shruti Sutwala
• Islay – Caol Ila 12 year (Apr 2006/May 2018) 54.6%

Original Group’s North Star Discovery:

• Highland – Ardmore Peat 8 year (June 2008/Oct 2016) 57.1%, North Star Series 001
• Islay – Islay 8 year (June 2008/May 2017) 58.3%, North Star Series 002
• Speyside – Glenrothes 20 year (Oct 1996/Oct 2016) 54.6%, North Star Series 001

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