Connoisseurs Choice: Millburn 1966 (Scottish Highland Single Malt Whisky: 40% ABV)
Visual: Very dark, caramel to treacle brown color. Slow thick streaks come from the spirit.
Nose: Caramel and treacle. Heavy. Treacle toffee. Light smoke. Hot sticky toffee pudding. Light pencil shavings. Water makes lighter and brings out slight menthol.
Body: Very smooth. Caramel. Light greenery. Tingle on the tongue, but not in a boozy way. Charring. Dried beef slices. Peppery. Water makes cleaner and brings out more greenery.
Finish: Stir fry vegetables. Charring. Smoke. Moss. Oak. Malt chocolate. Water brings out treacle and white pepper.
Conclusion: Well, this is both heavy and light. AT THE SAME TIME. Odd, no?
The aroma is heavy caramel and treacle, in a real thick, sweet booming set of notes – so from this I was expecting a fairly chewy character of whisky ahead of me.
So, I take a sip and the flavours are still heavily on the caramel side, but initially the body is surprisingly smooth and just slightly light. Far less chewy than the aroma had led me to expect. The flavours are still heavy though. Under the sweet notes that the aroma promised there is instead a very greenery, peppery and slightly smokey thing, with just a hint of menthol release. Instead of simple sweetness it feels like a spice jar of a whisky.
Water actually makes it feel thicker. Don’t know how that works, and as well as that extra weight makes it also feel even more spice led.
The emphasis on spice isn’t to my personal taste, so this isn’t a favorite for me, but it is still impressively weighty in the flavours it brings to the fore. I think it would make a good part of a vatted malt if it was not nigh impossible to get now. The weight would be a boon to many a blend, and if used as a backing the spice could be a great element.
A fascinating one I am glad to have tried, but not super to my taste so I am glad I don’t have a full bottle to go. Especially at current costs.
Background: So, the amount of single malt whisky distilleries in Scotland I have not tried has reduced to a small number now – mostly either newly opened distilleries, or, like this from one of the silent distilleries that have closed over the years. Bottles from these dead distilleries can be expensive beyond my capabilities. So, when I saw that Old and Rare whisky had miniatures from a few distilleries I had not tried I was very interested. I don’t use Old and Rare much, they tend to be expensive, even for what they offer – and millilitre for millilitre these minis are expensive, but compared to getting full bottles it al least gives me a chance to try these distilleries. There is no age statement on the bottle, but a google suggests that there is a 70cl bottling from 1966 by Connoisseurs Choice that looks similar that is a 16 Year. Doesn’t necessarily mean that this one is, but that is the best guess I can get. You can tell this has been bottled for a long time though – with rust evident of the outside of the cap, and the bottle not quite being full due to loss of spirit over the years. Anyway, wanted some big music for the occasion so went with Godspeed You! Black Emperor: Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend!. Lovely haunting stuff and perfect for the occasion.
