Dufftown 13 Years Old 2008 (Gleann Mór)

The bottler Gleann Mór bottled this Dufftown, a 13 year old, distilled in 2008, bottled at 50%. Dufftown is a Speyside single malt, founded as the Dufftown-Glenlivet distillery in 1895. It is one of Diageo's largest malt distilleries, making around 5.8 million litres a year.

It was worked through the stills with a creamed yeast for a malty, fruity make, the long ferment building a grassy, fruity character. Ex-Bourbon casks held it, the gentle American oak letting the nutty spirit lead. By the integrating teens congeners fade and esters build, the nutty, malty spirit growing rounder. The clean, grassy spirit shows the cask clearly, vanilla and honey to the fore. The town of Dufftown holds the highest concentration of distilleries in Scotland. The cool Speyside air gives a slow, even maturation in the Dufftown warehouses. Eight warehouses on site hold close to 100,000 casks of maturing malt.

At its natural 50% it is concentrated. A smooth, nutty Speyside fruit, with a soft vanilla from the oak. The mouthfeel is smooth, the fruit carried on a malty body. Apple, nut and a soft oak see out the finish. This is the workhorse malt of Dufftown.