Mosstowie 45 Years Old Signatory 30th Anniversary Cask 7622 51.6% 1973

Professional reviews

Serge Valentin (92)

Colour: rich white wine.

Nose: Sweet Vishnu! This is some very old yellow Chartreuse! Intensely green, fruity, herbal, sweet and full of pollens, honey, yellow flowers, quince jelly and things like cannabis oil and wormwood. Totally thrilling nose. With water: becomes more menthol rich, notes of pipe tobacco, hessian, olive oil, marzipan and dried tropical fruit mix.

Mouth: green banana, a cavalcade of golden sultanas, pineapple, precious hardwoods, herbal extracts, ointments, waxes, tinned fruit syrups and lemon jelly. Silly whisky. With water: a wee nibble of mustardy wood, resinous crystalised fruits, white pepper, sweetened medicines and more of these wonderfully extractive herbal aspects.

Finish: Long, spicy, lemony, nicely drying and a huge, echoing fruitiness.

Comments: A total stunner. By some distance the best Mosstowie I ever tasted.

BOW (90)

Imagine, a 45 years old Mosstowie! Isn’t it fab when great old bottlers (well, not THAT old in this very case) celebrate their anniversaries? Remember Cadenhead last year? Colour: gold. Nose: this is completely different, much more on muscovado sugar, Cuban rum, custard, chicory and Ovaltine, toasted brioche, Williams pears… We’re kind of midway between old malt and old grain here, I would say. With water: gets sourer, but that is pleasant. Swiss cheese, tobacco, fermenting plums (got some in the garage, will distil them soon!)… Mouth (neat): exactly. Pear pie, sweet ale, butterscotch, toffee, more Ovaltine, mocha… Once again you feel a lighter backbone, but it’s no spineless grain whisky, it’s just a different kind of malt. With water: same feelings. Notes of young calvados, caramel, vanilla, malt, walnuts… Finish: rather medium, a tad oakier but remember this baby’s 45! Comments: what a lovely experience! Probably the oldest Mosstowie ever, and indeed, much more than just an anecdotal whisky – but then again, it is neither Clynelish nor Springbank.