The Devron 12 Years is a lot like Ledaig in that there is no Ledaig distillery and is instead an expression made at Tobermory. There is no Devron distillery and it is an expression made at the MacDuff distillery. However unlike the Ledaig, or AnCnoc made ay Knockdhu for that matter, MacDuff does also go by the name of Glen Devron… confused much?
Founded in 1960(ish) as the MacDuff distillery by Glen Devron Distillers Limited they were forced to stop using the MacDuff name on bottles around 1994 when DCL (Diageo precursor) took hold of the MacDuff trademark. After 1994 whisky was released as Glendevron and then at some point released as Glen Devron. However, during all of this the distillery itself remained named MacDuff, they just couldn’t release whisky under that name.
The Devron 12 Years Info
Region: Highlands, Scotland
Distiller: MacDuff / Glen Devron
Mashbill: 100% Malted Barley
Cask: ex-Bourbon
Age: 12 years
ABV: 40%
Release: The Last Great Malts – Dewars
Price: $45*
The Devron 12 Years Review
EYE
Gold
NOSE
Light notes of apricot, coconut, toffee, toasted malt, raisinettes, waxy fruit and a light buttery graham.
PALATE
Malt, char, chooclate, dried fruit, minerally and alkaline with a light vegetal saline – the best way I can explain it would be salted cucumber water.
FINISH
Medium fade of hay, malt, stale dried fruit, waxy candy and light powdered sugar.
BALANCE, BODY & FEEL
Ok balance, medium body and a light watery feel.
OVERALL
The Devron 12 Years is an odd malt. Sometimes I enjoy odd funky malts, sometimes i don’t and other times I’m ambivalent. This case is more the latter unfortunately and it ended up being my least favorite of The Last Great Malts. It has some good qualities and some of the folks I shared it with enjoyed it more than I did, but for me the finish is where it looses it.
The aroma is fairly nice, the palate is decent until the tail end when it tastes like salty cucumber water and then we hit the finish that’s fine except for the accent of stale dried fruit. Neither of those notes dominate and only really pop up when I’m thinking about the whisky and trying to explore it. If you just throw it in a glass and start sipping it tastes like fairly standard single malt. To be honest this one still has me a bit perplexed about exactly how I feel about it. Somethings I like, somethings I don’t… so odd.
SCORE: 81/100
*Disclosure: This sample of The Devron 12 Years was graciously sent to me by the company for the purposes of this review. The views, opinions, and tasting notes are 100% my own.
