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Mosstowie 1979/2013 The Ultimate

Lomond Rollercoaster

0 387

@PandemoniumReview by @Pandemonium

12th Jun 2016

0

  • Nose
    22
  • Taste
    23
  • Finish
    21
  • Balance
    21
  • Overall
    87

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Distribution of ratings for this: brand user

Another one of the marsupial distilleries: hiding in the belly of the larger Miltonduff distillery and carrying a full set of Lomond stills it was able to produce whisky in a wide variety of styles and flavours. Those varieties will presumably remain nameless to the outside public, making it a lot harder for the whisky connoisseurs to pinpoint the exact style of Mosstowie with the odd-release of spirit now and then. But not to worry, like its fellow Lomond distilleries, Miltonduff never gained any recognition, even after its untimely demise. However as this particular whisky was distilled two years before the plants closure in 1981, they should have worked out how to operate their stills to perfection by then, not? Can I presume this is your top game, Mosstowie?


Description: distilled in 1979 and matured for 34years in bourbon cask#1355, before being bottled in 2013 by Dutch independent bottler Van Wees for his ‘The Ultimate’ range at 51.5% ABV.

Nose: a true chameleon adjusting to the new oxygen rich environment of the Glencairn glass. At the very start it had a cheap, puffy synthetic vanilla soap odour to it, then it turned into a pastry with notes of gooseberries, cream puffs, powdered sugar and aniseed. In the later stages I can only detect soft notes of sweet red apple slices, coated in a thick layer of black pepper. (with water added: a clear win for the pastry department, bring in the platter of cream puffs!)

Mouth: thick and warm apple cinnamon cider. Warm? make that singing! (with water added: fruitier than before, notes of apple pie, but that cinnamon if fighting back with all its might.)

Finish: a medium long, pleasant mix of milk chocolate, cinnamon and vanilla with a cursory touch of white grape juice. (with water added: the cinnamon is dominant to the point where it seems to be choking you! Cinnamon challenge anyone?)


Verdict: Well that was quite the rollercoaster, wasn’t it? Only my second Mosstowie, too early to draw any conclusions, but could it be the most fascinating of the Lomonds? Particularly interesting to see the effect of water on the dram, but I did preferred it neat.

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3 comments

@Pierre_W
Pierre_W commented

What a refreshing review, @Pandemonium! Van Wees bottlings are well known for their high quality, therefore I am not surprised by your overall assessment. It looks like this is a whisky where experimenting with adding water is recommended. Mosstowie bottlings are getting rarer - good to hear that you got to review this.

7 years ago 0

@Ol_Jas
Ol_Jas commented

Sounds very autumnal.

So is Van Wees one individual fella?

7 years ago 0

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