Macduff | Whisky Lady

Now I will admit to having a mixed experience with Macduff Distillery. Whilst normally Bacardi uses Macduff in blends, you can also find Macduff under the label Glen Deveron or just The Deveron – named after the nearby Devon River. Specifically under the brand Glen Deveron, they are known to have more affordable age statements. However, every time someone says “Oh wow a 20-year-old whisky for only xyz?!” I remind them of the old adage – typically you get what you pay for!

That shared, I trust the folks at That Boutique-y Whisky Company, so when this bottle was on sale from Whic.de, thought why not try?? Especially as 50 cl bottles means you can bring 3-4 bottles into India instead of just 2!

Macduff 10 year Batch 10, 52% (TBWC – Single Malt Scotch Whisky) Bottle108 of 1024, 50ml

Colour – Bright golden straw
Nose – Initially quite sour, then reminded a bit of Grappa, quite vegetal, some agave or Mescale, capsicum… is that also a whiff of sulfur??
Palate – Was that pudina (mint)? It coats the tongue with a texture a bit like ghee, was it like eating sourdough starter, barley, or something a bit bitter?
Finish – Licorice bark, a bit malty
Water – Reminded one lady of sniffing oregano oil

You can tell the nose was described as anything but a typical whisky. Remarks such as ‚heatburn, acid reflux, etc were bantered about. The palate was also filled more with questions than answers…

Which is part of why we enjoy tasting together. It is such fun to experience the unexpected and have both very pleasant surprises along with a few duds. You can tell which category this one fell into!

There is also something to be said for the whisky-tasting order. I struggled a bit with this set as initially thought to begin with the Macduff before the Cotswold and English. However in the end decided to go with a simple age progression. Which didn’t do the Macduff any favours…

Let’s just say after the remarkably good Cotswolds, we were again reminded age does not necessarily make it better… In this case, a mere 3-year-old clearly outclassed a 10-year!

What more do the good folks at That Boutique-y Whisky Co have to say? A few words about the distillery but alas not this particular batch!

The Macduff distillery was founded in the 1960s and is kitted out with five stills, four of which have lyne arms that are rather oddly arranged, with one of the wash stills’ lyne arms being U-shaped too, just so they’ll all fit in the still room! They don’t release whisky themselves under their own name – they release it under the name The Deveron. This is why the name Macduff might be more familiar to you from Shakespeare’s play, ‘Macbeth’. We’ve even put one of the deleted scenes from the play on the label of our Macduff bottling. Press the stopper down to hear the director’s commentary from Shakespeare himself (probably a lie).

I picked up this bottle in Germany from Whic.de for Eur 51 during a whisky sale – yes these do exist!

We tried it together in Mumbai with the Whisky Ladies in April 2023 together with more bottlings from That Boutique-y Whisky Co:

Curious about other Macduff whisky experiences? Read on:

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Last in our Sherry expressions evening was 20 year old whisky from Macduff distillery matured in Sherry Oak.

We first sampled it blind then our host revealed the whisky. Here is what we found…

Glen Deveron 20 year 40%

Nose – Initially whiff was pure jackfruit, then sour, lots of sulfur, a bit musty then it started to settle down revealing lots of tropical fruits – particularly pineapple, a bit more sourness in the background, but largely a sweet slightly overripe fruit basket, as it opened up further, it began evolving into a sourdough, almost plasticine element, then bubble gum and sugary cola
Palate – So soft and mild, like a vanilla sponge cake or pineapple upside down cake, lemon custard, quite lovely with a light bitterness creeping too as it eased into its finish
Finish – Very nutty – particularly hazelnut and part of what made the whisky interesting
Water – None were tempted – no need to add even a drop

Though it clearly was low alcohol and hence for many it was a bit too watered down, like sipping sugar water, it was beautiful in its way. Some really appreciated its subtle and nuanced character, even if it was not massively complex.

Key was giving it time to let the initial sulfur dissipate so the fruit sweetness came to the fore. Particularly the palate was pleasing – one even remarked “outstanding.”

And the reveal?

Again a surprise. None would have expected a 20 year old.

Which triggered a reminder of our earlier encounter with this specific single malt – an evening back in October 2014 – remembered as the night a 3 year old Japanese whisky (Chichibu ‘The Floor Malted’ 3 year) outclassed a 20 year old!

This time around, the Glen Deveron got a favourable response from a few who thought it quite pleasant and enjoyed the soft sponge cake flavours on the palate.

Yet it brought us back to our discussion on the critical role played by the cask – both its quality and the number of times it was used and how.

While it says Sherry Oak Casks, this doesn’t actually tell you much. Had it been 1st fill sherry casks, one normally sees this proudly declared. We thought it is much more likely to be a combination of oak (logically American given its affordability) and a 2nd or 3rd fill sherry cask. While pure speculation on our part, it struck us as the right combination to produce the results we found.

Such an approach could be called “Sherry Oak” – as yes there is some “Sherry” – just how much and what fill is indeterminate and equally there is “Oak” – whether it is is ex-bourbon 1st or 2nd or 3rd fill or simply straight American Oak or something else – it is still legitimately Oak.

Not so long ago, this duty free dram could be found for $75. However more recently it made an appearance at Mumbai’s duty free for $125. That shared, you may not find this Macduff’s offering as easily today as you once could as the expression has been discontinued.

Here is what we explored with our Sherry expressions evening: