Review by: The Muskox
I may not have nearly as much access to Millburns as a certain Belgian gentleman I know, but I do alright at my local bar. This place’s once-enormous list of dirt-cheap interesting 70s and 80s drams is quickly drying up, with the boring bottles being emptied and the hyped bottles doubling in price (going from dirt-cheap to mere bargains). The Millburns seem to have escaped both fates so far. Nobody’s in a rush to drink this one – TOModera tried this same bottle 6 years ago, and the fill level has gone down about 2 inches since then.
Distillery: Millburn
Bottler: Signatory Vintage
Region: Highlands
ABV: 60.1%. Cask Strength.
Age: 16 Years. Distilled March 31st 1979. Bottled in May 1995.
Price: $40 CAD at the bar.
Color: Gold. Natural Color. Non-Chill Filtered.
Nose: The first impression isn’t quite as wild as I was expecting, mostly grassy sweetness with some vanilla and tropical fruit. It took just another minute for the complexity to get going… The tropical fruit is a tropical-funk: durian?? I’ve never tried it, but smelled it many times – it’s like a mix of tropical fruit and savoury gasoline. Along with that is greenish pineapple, purple mangosteen, and coconut oil. The dram gets deeper and funkier as it sits in the glass… there’s an underlying savouriness like some kind of dried red pepper, or maybe sundried tomatoes. Industrial notes of engine oil, graphite, newsprint, and plasticine. Ahhh, here’s the paraffin I’ve heard so much about. A small amount of barnyard starts to emerge with time, as well as a bit of lapsang tea.
Palate: Thick and oily texture. Arrives with underripe tropical fruit, barnyard, machine shop, and a large amount of paraffin wax. As it develops, there’s very strong coconut (water and oil), pineapple, and pickled ginger. The industrial notes rush in, as well as that savoury character. Some darker and richer sweet flavours here, more towards the caramel side of the spectrum with some darker fruits. Slightly smoky too, charred marshmallow and a little more lapsang.
With just a few sips left in my glass, I added two drops of water. This gave an almost sake-like character, slightly lactic, but sweet and very smooth.
Finish: Long with lingering gingery/wasabi spice. More green tropical fruit, heavy oils, and wax. It’s even more industrial here, metallic and sooty. Scented oak, soda water, cotton balls, and swamp grass. Lots of lemon-lime lingering… 7-Up? Towards the end of the glass, a couple more surprises came up: an almost gruyere-like cheesy-nutty note, and something floral and almost soapy.
Possible SMWS bottling name: “Robo-Paulus’s ghost laboratory”
Conclusion: The laboratories that I’m used to are full of rock dust, grease, and heavy machinery, rather than sterile chemicals. Anyways. Oh my goodness, I get the Millburn hype. This is one of those drams where I couldn’t help but smile as I sipped. It has all the structural hallmarks of a great whisky – amazing complex nose, oily texture, waves of flavour on every sip, and a very long finish. The flavours are classic Millburn and super intense. This is so wild and funky compared to the other whiskies I’ve had at the tip-top level, but I think it can hang with them.
Final Score: 93.
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.
Malt Runners 