A couple of weeks ago, I made a city trip to Valencia (Spain) and stayed in the Hilton Valencia. Their Podium bar has a decent range of +/- 40 single malt whiskies, the crown jewel being a Linkwood 1954 G&M (€ 58 for 4cl – quite outrageous but at least it’s excellent whisky – the others had a more reasonable price by the way). I decided to try a Millburn 1976, bottled by Gordon & MacPhail in their Connoisseurs Choice range.

Millburn distillery was originally know as “Inverness distillery” and was mothballed in 1985. In 1988, it was destroyed and the site now houses a restaurant. There was an original bottling in the Rare Malts series, and a few releases from independent bottlers. This Millburn 1976 is from a refill sherry butt.

Millburn 27yo 1976
(46%, Gordon & MacPhail 2004)

Nose: very rich. Starts rather perfumy on white peach, lavender and dried apricots. Develops some dusty notes over time (incense, old books). Some very light smoke in the background. Linseed oil. Quite complex. Mouth: malty start. Very spicy and peppery development, rather hot. Some peat smoke. Dry walnuts. Charred oak. Finish: sweet start with spices (nutmeg). Getting drier in the end (cloves, sherry wood).

Interesting stuff. Not perfect, but very complex and rewarding, especially on the nose. On the palate, it’s not really dynamic. Not available any more.

Score: 85/100