Miltonduff
Andrew Peary and Robert Bain founded Miltonduff distillery in 1824. The distillery had previously operated illicitly on the site since the turning of the century, but following the passing of the Exercise Act, Peary and Bain established the distillery as a legitimate business operation. After debuting to a successful start in 1866, the distillery was purchased by William Stuart. In 1895 Thomas Yool & Company became part owners of the site, and a few years later Yool went on to completely control the distillery.
| Information about the Distillery | |
|---|---|
| Scotland, Speyside | |
| -3.368734 57.623804 | |
| Active | |
| Pernod Ricard | |
| 15 t | |
| 1824 | |
| 4,000,000 l |
| Average tasting notes Tasting notes |
i
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|---|---|---|
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Nosing
Sweet:
Fruit:
Sherry:
Spices:
Sweet:
Zitrus:
Fruit:
Caramel:
Vanilla:
Spices:
Vanilla:
Caramel:
Oak:
Herbs:
Tropical Fruit:
Tropical Fruit:
Raisin:
Lemon:
Zitrus:
Orange:
Dried Fruit:
Cinnamon:
Floral:
Malt:
Lemon:
Apple:
Chocolate:
Anis:
Sherry:
Oak:
Berries:
Honey:
Pear:
Nuts:
Dried Fruit:
Apple:
Barley:
Pear:
Honey:
Peach:
Peach:
Grass:
Clove:
Berries:
Herb:
Leather:
Raisin:
Cherry:
Heather:
Herbs:
Malt:
Herb:
Orange:
Peat Smoke:
Leather:
Tobacco:
Banana:
Chocolate:
Alcohol:
Cherry:
Cake:
Floral:
Tobacco:
Wheat:
Heather:
Almonds:
Cake:
Banana:
Date:
Plum:
Alcohol:
Cinnamon:
Oil:
Lime:
Chili:
Pepper:
Wheat:
Hay:
Barley:
Black Currant:
Dark Chocolate:
Nutmeg:
Grape:
Oil:
Tasting
Sweet:
Spices:
Sweet:
Sherry:
Nuts:
Fruit:
Zitrus:
Chocolate:
Zitrus:
Honey:
Vanilla:
Honey:
Vanilla:
Pepper:
Oak:
Oil:
Cinnamon:
Pepper:
Anis:
Herbs:
Malt:
Spices:
Herb:
Fruit:
Lemon:
Lemon:
Chocolate:
Grapefruit:
Raisin:
Grapefruit:
Oil:
Tropical Fruit:
Dried Fruit:
Herbs:
Peat Smoke:
Orange:
Hazelnut:
Apple:
Oak:
Dark Chocolate:
Alcohol:
Alcohol:
Plum:
Floral:
Almonds:
Caramel:
Almonds:
Apple:
Raisin:
Nuts:
Sherry:
Plum:
Cinnamon:
Tropical Fruit:
Banana:
Blackberry:
Blackberry:
Malt:
Floral:
Caramel:
Coffee:
Chili:
Barley:
Cake:
Heather:
Leather:
Chili:
Cherry:
Cake:
Wheat:
Heather:
Nutmeg:
Cherry:
Fig:
Mint:
Grass:
Clove:
Peach:
Clove:
Berries:
Herb:
Mint:
Rye:
Wheat:
Grass:
Tobacco:
Ginger:
Orange:
Seaweed:
Pear:
Peat Smoke:
Lime:
Nutmeg:
Pear:
Peach:
Maritime Notes:
Fig:
Rye:
Finish
Sweet:
Oak:
Chocolate:
Zitrus:
Sherry:
Nuts:
Sweet:
Herb:
Spices:
Malt:
Orange:
Oak:
Chocolate:
Fruit:
Zitrus:
Almonds:
Almonds:
Caramel:
Coffee:
Dark Chocolate:
Spices:
Oil:
Herbs:
Herbs:
Orange:
Nutmeg:
Lemon:
Pepper:
Barley:
Floral:
Caramel:
Oil:
Floral:
Barley:
Malt:
Raisin:
Peat Smoke:
Vanilla:
Sherry:
Vanilla:
Herb:
Honey:
Dried Fruit:
Raisin:
Alcohol:
Honey:
Coffee:
Nuts:
Chili:
Alcohol:
Cherry:
Cake:
Chili:
Hazelnut:
Cake:
Cherry:
Wheat:
Pear:
Nutmeg:
Tobacco:
Fruit:
Peat Smoke:
Plum:
Lemon Peel:
Leather:
Pear:
Maritime Notes:
Seaweed:
Wheat:
Pepper:
|
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The Whisky
There are two official Single Malts released from the Miltonduff distillery: Miltonduff and Mosstowie. The distillery has released a number of official expressions of Miltonduff, including a 10 year old and a 12 year old, although these mostly date from the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. In addition to these official releases, there have been a number of independent releases of the Single Malt. Gordon & MacPhail have released a 10 year old and a 15 year old bottling, both of which were released on behalf of the distillery in a semi-official manner. Additionally, Douglas Laing has released a 22 year old bottling. The distillery never released an official bottling of Mosstowie, as the Single Malt was launched in order to be used as a component in the Hiram Walker Blends. There were, however, a small number of independent bottlings released of Mosstowie. These included a 30 year bottling by Duncan Taylor and a 12 year old bottling and 20 year old bottling by Gordon & MacPhail. Mosstowie was used as a major component in a number of Blends that were owned by Hiram Walker, including the Ballantine's Blends.
The Production
Miltonduff has a production capacity of 5.5 million liters. It actually used to be Allied Distillers' largest distillery. Even following Pernod Ricard’s takeover of Allied Domecq, the distillery still has one of the largest capacities in the group, with only Glenlivet's capacity being greater. The water used in production is taken from the Black Burn. As Mosstowie was produced in a pair of pot stills in the site, its production capacity has been lost since the closure of the site.
The Pot Stills
Six pot stills are used in the production of Miltonduff. The three wash stills each have an 18’000 liter capacity, and the three spirit stills have a capacity of 17’500 liters. Mosstowie was distilled using a pair of Lomond stills, which had a regular 'pot' at the bottom of the still, but the straight necks of the stills consisted of three plates, which could be used separately. This allowed a variety of different kinds of flavor of malt to be made, without having to construct new stills.
The Maltings
The malt used in the production of Mosstowie was lightly peated, which resulted in a soft, smoky taste, while the malt used in the production of Miltonduff was completely unpeated. The malt for both Single Malts was sourced from an industrial source in Speyside.
The Warehouse
Miltonduff distillery has an extensive warehouse complex with both dunnage and racked warehouses. The distillery uses a combination of American white oak and Sherry casks in which the Single Malt is aged.
The History
Andrew Peary and Robert Bain founded Miltonduff distillery in 1824. The distillery had previously operated illicitly on the site since the turning of the century, but following the passing of the Excise Act, Peary and Bain established the distillery as a legitimate business operation. After debuting to a successful start in 1866, the distillery was purchased by William Stuart. In 1895 Thomas Yool & Company became part owners of the site, and a few years later Yool went on to completely control the distillery.
In 1936 they sold the site on to Hiram Walker. The year before, Hiram Walker had acquired George Ballantine's & Sons thanks to the enormous profits that they had made during Prohibition by smuggling alcohol into America. The company had decided to expand their operations into Scotland to ensure that they would have enough Single Malt to compete with demand. Following their acquisition, Hiram Walker immediately transferred the management over to Ballantine's.
In 1964, a pair of Lomond stills were installed at the distillery in order to start producing the Mosstowie Single Malt. Ballantine's were responsible for developing the design of the Lomond Single Malt pot stills, which was one of the reasons that the pot stills were installed at the site. In 1974, a major reconstruction was launched and the number of pot stills was increased. In 1981, the Lomond stills were removed, therefore eliminating the production of Mosstowie. The Lomond stills were replaced by regular pot stills in order to keep up the production levels. In 1986, the majority of the Hiram Walker stocks were acquired by Allied Domecq, and in 1987, they acquired the rest of the company. In 2005, Pernod Ricard acquired Miltonduff through the corporate merger of Allied and Pernod.
Visitor's Centre
There is no visitor’s centre at the site, and unfortunately the distillery is closed to the public.
Miltonduff Distillery
Elgin
Moray
IV30 8TQ
User Notes about the Distillery
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