Scotland, Speyside. Distillery dismantled.

Like the Glenburgie distillery, and under the aegis of the Canadian company Hiram Walk, Miltonduff was equipped with a pair of Lomond stills in 1964. 17 years later (1981), in the midst of economic crisis, the stills were removed, bringing the existence of Mosstowie to a premature end. Designed to increase the choice available to master blenders without having to build new distilleries, this type of practice fizzled out due to the economic climate and the difficulties associated with maintaining this type of equipment. The single malts were bottled primarily by independent bottlers, the oldest and rarest versions in Italy (Sestante), the vintages 1970, 1975 and 1979 by Gordon & MacPhail, and the 1973, 1978 and 1979 versions by Signatory Vintage.

A Miltonduff 30 year old distilled in 1964 and bottled at cask strength in 1994 by Cadenhead for its Authentic Collection range. Cadenhead was founded in 1842 by George Duncan, who was quickly joined by William Cadenhead who renamed the business after Duncan’’s death in 1858. When Cadenhead in turn passed away in 1904, his nephew Robert Duthie took over and turned the business into the independent bottler it is today. After Duthie, it was managed by one of his employees, Ann Olivier, whose stubborn approach to running the business led to much of the stock having to be sold at auction by Christie’’s (London) in 1972 to feed the kitty and save the business. It was then sold to J. & A. Mitchell and Co, who also owned Springbank, and moved to Campbeltown. Launched in the 1990s, the Authentic Collection marked the end of the previous two decades of bottlings at 46%, instead favouring cask strength releases. It became Cadenhead’’s main range.