Single Malt Scotch Whisky from the Milton distillery?
After reading the news that a whisky from the Milton distillery has just been released on the market, more than a few will conclude that something is wrong, that there is no distillery with that name in Scotland at the moment. And also among the bemoaned "victims" of the 1980s crisis, one looks in vain for it among all sorts of distilleries forgotten or remembered with a tear in the eye, such as Brora, North Port, Port Ellen, Glen Albyn, Glenlochy or Coleburn. On the other hand, if we were talking about a new distillery, after all, it certainly has not yet managed to make a full-fledged whisky. After all, this one has to age in oak barrels for at least 3 years.
Each of the leads suggested above leads nowhere, and whisky from the Milton distillery - a single malt Scotch whisky - is already in bottles, any moment now on the market. So if Milton is neither an old, closed distillery nor any of the new ones, what kind of whisky is it? More will become clear when we look at the vintage and age of the whisky just bottled by an independent company from Elgin, Scotland, Gordon & MacPhail.
Milton 1949 72yo is the latest offering from Gordon & MacPhail as part of its Private Collection series. Not only is it a whisky of an unusual vintage, distilled back in the 1940s, not only is it unbelievably old - we rarely deal with whiskies over 70 years old - but it's from a distillery whose name almost no one has heard of. Interestingly, a distillery quite famous, considered by many to be the most beautiful Scottish distillery. For Milton is the old name of the Strathisla distillery.
Milton 1949 72yo is a whisky with a strength of 48.6% vol., matured for more than seven decades in a puncheon barrel that previously held sherry. For natural reasons, this edition is extremely limited. After 72 years, the contents of a barrel filled with fresh distillate in 1949 were enough to make only 180 bottles of the age-old liquor. In its bouquet, the whisky offers notes of sherry, vanilla, Seville oranges, forest fruit compote, Christmas spices and lemon peel. In the taste we can expect notes of fudge, citrus, nutmeg, baked apples, poached pears and beeswax. The whisky will soon be available through specialist whisky stores at a retail price of £50,000 per bottle.
By the way, the dispute over which Scotch whisky maker is the oldest operating distillery has come to life. For years, the right to this title has been claimed by Glenturret, founded, according to its owner, in 1775. Strathisla, in turn, dates the start of its operations to 1786. It is not for us to decide whether the more than thirty-year hiatus in Glenturret's operations (1923-1959) constitutes a sufficient break in its continuity to consider the newly built distillery entitled to its 18th-century legacy or not. What is significant for us is that the distillery we know as Strathisla was originally called Milltown, and changed its name - actually the spelling of the name - to Milton in 1890. The whisky produced there was known as Strathisla, after the name of the river flowing right next to it. Or rather, the wide valley of the Isla River (strath Isla), whose trough can be found just behind the buildings of modern Strathisla. In 1951, that is, shortly after the sherry cask of interest to us today was filled, the distillery finally changed its name to Strathisla. However, in 1949, when this first-fill sherry puncheon was filled with fresh distillate, it was a beverage from the Milton distillery. This is also the name on the label, and it is one of the absolutely unique and rare cases for the name Milton to appear on a whisky label.
Strathisla is a relatively small distillery, and the whisky it produces is extremely highly regarded by blenders, most notably those responsible for Chivas Regal brand blends. As a result, Strathisla has never been promoted as a single malt whisky. Official editions released by the manufacturer can be counted on the fingers of one hand, and if you don't count occasional limited batches, the offer is actually limited to one edition, Strathisla 12yo. The distillery itself, located in the town of Keith in the Speyside region, is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful places you'll find on a journey along the trail of Scottish whisky factories. Open to the public, it offers not only tours and tastings, but also a rather interestingly stocked store, offering limited editions of whiskeys not only from Strathisla, but also from other distilleries owned by Pernod Ricard. Naturally, you will also find special editions of Chivas Regal - after all, Strathisla is officially "The Home of Chivas Regal" - and the luxurious Royal Salute blend.
Despite the small supply of whisky from Strathisla, the House of Whisky Online offers more than a dozen editions, including, above all, those released by Gordon & MacPhail. The whiskeys bottled by this independent company represent something of a regular base edition for spirits from the many distilleries that are - or until recently were - extremely sparsely represented in the market by their owners. This includes Strathisla, but also distilleries such as Glenburgie, Linkwood, Mortlach, Glentauchers and Ardmore. We invite you to learn not only about whisky offerings from Strathisla, but also extremely rich offer of this independent bottler, one of the oldest and by far the most interesting.
[26.07.2022 / Photo: Gordon & MacPhail]