That three-month-old baby is now nine (going on fifteen) years of age. She already thinks she has enumerated all of her father's hypocrisies. But the joke's on her! I make up new ones every day.
In that spirit (wocka wocka), I shall now review a whisky with a secondary market price I'd never pay. The always sexy Mosstowie, isn't a dead distillery. It's not even a distillery at all. It's a defunct single malt style produced at Miltonduff distillery back when Hiram Walker thought it'd be brilliant to park Lomond stills at its Speyside distilleries for more than a decade.
The only other Mosstowie I've tried (see above) was one of those damned 40%abv Connoisseurs Choice creations. This 'Towie, though, flexes a 48.4% strength. That this is full strength, and the outturn was only 128 bottles, makes one wonder what was going on with the cask. Yes, "Rarest of the Rare" indeed, because the angels drank half of it already.
Single Malt: Mosstowie
Ownership at the time: Hiram Walker
Region: Speyside (Lossie)
Independent Bottler: Duncan Taylor
Range: Rarest of the Rare
Age: 29 years (May 1975 - March 2005)
Maturation: mystery cask!
Cask #: 5809
Outturn: 128 bottles
Alcohol by Volume: 48.4%
(from a bottle split)
NOTES
The nose starts with almond butter and golden raisins on fresh rye bread. Bits of brick, raw walnuts, and miso offer even more entertainment. With time it takes on clementines and milk chocolate, holding onto only that rye bread note. The first sip has a salty, savory, sweet arrival that vanishes until the final sip, with nothing but big sweetness in between. Lemon candy, orange bubblegum, and almond roca. The late savory note is brothy and peppery. Nothing but sweets in the finish, though. Honey, honey, and more honey, with a touch of almond extract.
WORDS WORDS WORDS
One can probably thank both the Lomond still and the odd cask for this never-boring whisky. With shifting characteristics that always worked, the nose was my favorite part, though it was also a fun sipper throughout. And as much as I liked my sample, a full bottle might present a full journey of curiosities. Mosstowies are scarce now, but I look forward to trying another bottling someday.
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