Speyside Backbenchers Beyond Diageo: Miltonduff 2009, Dalmunach 2018, Glenburgie 2008, Aultmore 2007

Today we continue the crusade started last year of rummaging through all of the various unloved, faceless distilleries in Scotland's Speyside region in search of hidden gems, malts that deserve your notice maybe even moreso than the stuff that actually gets bottled officially. The last two times we did this (at    • Speyside Backbenchers of Diageo: Benrinnes...   and    • Speyside Backbenchers of Diageo II: Linkwo...   ) we focused on Diageo, because Diageo owns the majority of such distilleries. But there are others out there not under the Diageo umbrella that still tend to go without hype or official bottlings, and this video's picking out a few of them. So here we go, three from Chivas/Pernod Ricard and one from Dewar's (Bacardi)... (And yes, I know that Aultmore does in fact have its own bottling range, but I'll never find another flight to fit this sample into so here it goes) Miltonduff 2009 12 Year Old Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky, 1st Fill Bourbon Barrel No. 701781 (Miltonduff/southwest of Elgin, bottled by The Ultimate; distilled 12/7/09, bottled 6/22; natural color, unchillfiltered; 46% ABV), 86+/100 Dalmunach "Strictly Limited" 2018 6 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky (Carron, bottled by Càrn Mòr; first-fill bourbon barrels bottled 2024, 642 bottles; natural color, unchillfiltered; 47.5% ABV), 83+1=84/100 Glenburgie 2008 15 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky, Signatory Exceptional Cask 100 Proof Edition No. 2 (Alves, Moray, bottled by Signatory; 1st Fill Oloroso Sherry Butts, bottled 3/25/24; natural color, unchillfiltered; 57.1% ABV), 89/100 Aultmore 2007 17 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky, Signatory Exceptional Cask 100 Proof Edition No. 1 (Aultmore, Keith, bottled by Signatory; 1st Fill Oloroso Sherry Butts, bottled 3/22/24; natural color, unchillfiltered; 57.1% ABV), 88/100 The Dalmunach, like Imperial before it, feels like it just needs way more time. There's a fun bubblegum-citrus character to this that gets a little astringent on the finish, but thankfully water clears that up. Keep an eye out for what these batches do in six more years, though. Meanwhile the Miltonduff is a bit of a trickster: it's delightfully cakey and fruity on first contact with just a touch of green in the background, and with water I swear to God some peat comes out of nowhere. Really interesting, exactly the kind of thing you bring blind to a bottle swap. And then it's a battle between budget Signatory oloroso casks!! The Aultmore definitely shows more distillate character - it's brighter, grainier - but somehow the Glenburgie, the one which is overtly more of a sherry bomb, beats it on points. And this marks the second time in a row (   • LMDW Artist #13 (Bowmore '01, Glen Garioch...   ) that a Glenburgie has handily won a flight - is something going on? Should I be stocking up? Extra special thanks to my Different Spirits on Patreon (  / differentspirits  ) - Eric Amig Anthony Darcy Bean Chris Bobby Jamie Brown Kingsbury bushcraft William Christopher Clematis Rob D Liam Davitt Joe Devine Samuel Dose Stephen Eckert eon Ingmar nine Steve Frazee Ian Gendler Solomon Grundy John Halliday Alex Hurd Trevor Jarrait Jonathan Lestingi Kyaru Ariel Mserious Craig Nielsen Jason Newquist No Thanks Chris Rhodes Randy Rice RumSquirrel Gordon W Zach W Mean Will