2010 House of MacDuff The Golden Cask Tullibardine 11 Year Old Cask Strength Single Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml)

A feminine, middle-weight Highlander with a slightly floral edge. The aromas include poached orchard fruits (apples, pears), whipped cream, cinnamon and oak shavings, all echoed in the mouth. Biscuity malt runs into a lightly honeyed, waxy, warming finish with late fruity dark chocolate. A crowd pleaser, though none the worse for that. Can take a dash of water to further soften the edges, but it's not essential. 55.9% Alc./Vol. 233 bottles from a Bourbon barrel. Non chill filtered.

John McDougall is something of an industry legend, consulting to famous names like Aultmore, Glenfiddich, Kilchoman and Springbank. He has been instrumental in the MacDuff family securing whiskies to bottle under their own brand name, ‘Golden Casks'. Previous to that, The House of MacDuff  were primarily dealing with miniatures and ‘micro’ bottles, earning them a place in the Guinness Book of Records for "The Smallest Bottle of Whisky in the World”.  With a customs approved duty free warehouse, they now market their own casks - which is how they met McDougall.  Since then, he's continued to consult, helping to choose stand-out barrels and deciding when to bottle. MacDuff now concentrate on building their own brands rather than working for clients. We were so enamoured with many of their selections, we decided shipping these was obligatory. Like several other indies, they focus on x-Bourbon maturations giving the whiskies a full showing with no interference from secondary finishings. Instead, each distillery’s character is presented in high definition giving you a fabulous range of grains and malts to choose from at direct import prices.