Review by: ZoidbergOnTheRocks

This is the first Mosstowie I’ve ever had and I’m really intrigued. Distilled by Miltonduff on Lomond stills, they stopped producing it in 1981. It’s quite an old expression as well which could be good or bad, and the ABV is quite low, so we’ll see.

Tasted on 7/24/2021, neat in a Glencairn.

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Mosstowie 37 Year (1979) Signatory Vintage

Distillery: Miltonduff

Bottler: Signatory Vintage (SV)

Region: Scotland, Speyside

ABV: 42.4%, cask strength

Age: 37 years old. Distilled on 06/05/1979. Bottled on 01/31/2017.

Cask type: Bourbon Barrel

Natural color. Non-chill-filtered. One of 142 bottles, from a single cask #14574.

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Nose: bright fruits, tangerine, apricot, pear, pineapple. Floral, reminds me of honeysuckle a bit. Malt. Very mild spice behind it all. Some oak. A touch of camphor. Some light herbal notes come through as it sits. Dry grass. Lots going on here.

Taste: lots of fruit w/ pear, apples, apricot, and rather tropical. Honey. Vanilla. Herbal, almost a bit of a pine note. More spice here than on the nose. Oak, some of that camphor. Very nice mouthfeel. Malty. There is a tinge of something that feels a bit off, like burned toast. (Am I having a stroke?)

Finish: fruits w/ those apricots, pineapples, pears. Again, much more spice than the nose suggested, w/ camphor, oak, some baking spices, even some mild pepper now. Some maltiness. I’m missing the floral notes from the nose. A bit of a bitter oak note lingers on the end somewhat inconsistently. Medium-ish finish.

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Summary: The nose on this is bright and fruity with some really nice floral notes. Spice comes through more and more the longer it sits, as do some herbal/grassy notes, but nothing overwhelmed. Beautifully balanced and complex nose for sure and I really like it. I feel a bit let down on the palate, though. The fruit, and especially the floral notes, are overshadowed by the spice and okay, and that bitter note I mentioned. Excellent mouthfeel, though, really nice. Those notes are also overshadowed in the finish for me, too, which is a bummer.

Overall, I love the nose but I’m scoring it a bit lower than I initially expected based on the palate. This is one of those older expressions where I feel like they should have bottled it a few years earlier.

Would I buy a bottle? I’m gonna go with no. I see this available online for ~$500, and if the entire experience lived up to the nose then I’d consider it. But as I see it today, I’d pass.

Final Score: 87.

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Scoring Legend:

• 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky.
• 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category.
• 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram.
• 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff.
• 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting.
• 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better.
• 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink.
• 50-59: Save it for mixing.
• 0-49: Blech.