Dufftown 35 Years Old 1976 Cask #7743 (A.D. Rattray)

The bottler A.D. Rattray bottled this Dufftown, a 35 year old, distilled in 1976, from cask 7743, bottled at 58%, one of 188 bottles. Dufftown is a Speyside malt built for the blender's art and now bottled as a single malt in its own right. It was founded in 1895 within a former meal mill by Peter Mackenzie and his partners.

It was distilled from unpeated Speyside malt in the distillery's six stills, for the nutty, spicy make Dufftown is known for. An ex-Bourbon barrel shaped it, vanillin lending vanilla under the fruit. In its ethereal years the malt is waxy and oxidative, faded esters and a touch of sotolon (maple, dried fig). Water from Jock's Well and a long ferment give the clean Dufftown make. The cool Speyside air gives a slow, even maturation in the Dufftown warehouses. It is one of Diageo's largest malt distilleries, making around 5.8 million litres a year.

At its natural 58% it is concentrated. Apple, malt and a soft honey, with a soft vanilla from the oak. The mouthfeel is smooth, the fruit carried on a malty body. The finish runs gentle, nutty and warming. This is Dufftown's nutty, malty Speyside style.