A while ago I reviewed a sample of this whisky’s baby brother. The Millburn 1974-2000, by the same bottler. While that was a good whisky it had way too sharp an alcohol edge, from my point of view. With water the flavours improved quite a lot, and in retrospect I might have been a bit harsh in my judgement.

Anyway, this older version of a very similar cask is reviewed now. I had this in my own collection since its release in 2008. At the time it was the most expensive whisky I had ever bought and apart from two or three exceptions it’s still right up there.

Sniff:
Sweet with a ‘dirty sherry’ or a sherry refill edge. This is mostly from the wood itself, since the cask has been used for bourbon, according to the label. Sweet citrus, lemon curd. Also rye bread, bread crumbs with quite some spices. Ginger, brown sugar, allspice and some old sugared coconut like a Bounty bar.

Sip:
Spicy with some pepper and toasted oak. Dry rye bread again with grilled fruits. It softens quite quickly with loads of thick and sweet vanilla. Some unexpected tropical fruit as well.

Swallow:
The finish is very smooth and very warming. Lots of fruit with sweet citrus again, and some tropical stuff like peach. There is a lot going on here, very complex and very flavourful.

Unfortunately, these tasting notes were made at the last possible moment. That means the bottle is now completely empty. Big bummer since this was one of the highlights of my collection. The thick layers of vanilla and other bourbon-cask-influenced flavours were so pronounced that this is exactly what I love about old bourbon casks.

It’s a lot more a gentle giant than the other Millburn and this has my preference bigtime.

Millburn 1974-2008, Blackadder Raw Cask, 55.1%, ‘From an oak hogshead’. It used to cost around € 180, but according to Whiskybase I’ve paid too much.