...where distraction is the main attraction.

Friday, August 21, 2015

WTF Is This? Mosstowie 1975-1994 G&M Connoisseur's Choice

No, Mosstowie is not a distillery.  It is a fungal disorder quickly contracted by the body when walking barefoot through the Highlands.






That "joke" doesn't even work.  Mosstowie usually pronounced with a hard 'ow', like "Ow, that was painfully poor", rather than 'oh', like "Oh, what wonderful wit."

Look, this is what passes for original content when the writer is an insomniac stay-at-home father.

Soooooooo, Mosstowie was the single malt produced from two Lomond stills (rather than pot stills) at Miltonduff distillery between 1964 and 1981.  Back in the '50s and '60s, Hiram Walker installed Lomond stills at their Miltonduff, Glenburgie, Scapa, and Interleven/Dumbarton distilleries as a way to create a wider variety of whiskies for blenders from one single setup.  Their fates were brief: Glenburgie's Glencraig Lomond stills (like Miltonduff/Mosstowie's) were scrapped in 1981, Interleven distillery was closed in 1991, and Scapa's Lomond has been heavily modified.  So Hiram Walker's Lomond stills weren't what one would call a full success.

Today's review is of a 1975 Mosstowie that was released amongst Gordon & MacPhail's expansive (but originally not expensive) Connoisseur's Choice range in 1994.  Many many thanks go out to Teemu of Whisky Science with whom I did some sample swappin'.

Distillery: Miltonduff
Malt: Mosstowie
Ownership at the time: Hiram Walker
Independent Bottler: Gordon & MacPhail (Connoisseurs Choice)
Region: Speyside (Lossie)
Distillation year: 1975
Bottling year: 1994
Maturation: probably not first fill casks
Alcohol by Volume: 40%

(pic source)
Its color is a medium-to-dark gold.  At first, the nose is almost all spirit-driven.  Hay, seaside, barley, and a hint of white fruits.  Then there's carob, caramel, and buttery shortbread cookies.  After 15-20 minutes in the glass, a maple syrup note appears and quickly expands. A little sawdust and furniture polish.  At the start, the palate has a nice slight funky musty thing going on (OBE, is that you?) which quickly dissipates. Hints of coffee beans and dark chocolate.  Barley, caramel, and those shortbread cookies.  Maybe a peep of orange zest. It's never too sweet. Texture's a little thin. About 15 minutes in, vanilla and wood spice notes begin to show.  After 25 minutes, a big wood bitterness takes over.  The finish begins with a sugary vanilla breakfast cereal (specifically Trader Joe's Vanilla Almond Clusters). Then a roasted note, reminiscent of the palate's coffee and dark chocolate.  A little peppery tingle on the roof of the mouth.  There's a peep of bitterness at first, that then expands along with the bitterness in the palate.

The LAWS guys liked this whisky and mentioned no particular oddities.  Meanwhile both Johannes (of Malt Madness lore) and Serge (of Whiskyfun Gone Wild) both make point to reference that the palate gets really woody after a while.

I agree with the Europeans on this one.  To me, the oak even grows loud in the nose.  But before that happens, this is an acceptable middle of the road single malt.  The low ABV likely keeps much of its potential richness at bay, but the whisky is simple and pleasant, and would likely appeal to many blend drinkers.  And then the oak rumbles in and zaps it.  I don't know what causes this sort of thing to happen.  Spirit issues from the stills?  An imbalance from too much added water?  Caramel colorant?  Or maybe just some weird casks.  So, to somewhat echo Johannes, I'd have to say this one's a drinker not a thinker.  And make haste!

Availability - Auctions
Pricing - $$$ !!! ???
Rating - 82 until the fifteen minute mark, at which point it loses 5 points; at the half hour mark it loses another 5 points.  This is all very exacting and scientitious.


  1. Don't forget that Loch Lomond still has their Lomond stills.

    Say that ten times fast.

    1. Well, if one would like to say that Loch Lomond's stills have been a full success then one is welcome to say that. Yes the distillery doors are still open but the whisky itself...