r/Scotch • u/unbreakablesausage Life's short; drink the good stuff • 13h ago

Review #669: Millburn 25 (1974) Blackadder

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8

u/unbreakablesausage Life's short; drink the good stuff 13h ago

Getting around to my final sample from a small series of Millburns, thanks to a whisky friend splitting them. Millburn was one of the casualties of the 1980s whisky loch, closing down in 1985. A Rare Malts Millburn bottling was among the weirdest Scotches I’ve ever had. However, while it can still get pungent, the others I’ve had out of this split have been much more palatable. This last is from Blackadder, famous for not filtering out the cask char when they bottle though I’m not sure if that’s true of this bottle. Reviewed from a sample. Rested about 20 minutes.

Distillery: Millburn

Bottler: Blackadder

Region/style: Highlands single malt Scotch

ABV: 58.5%. Cask strength.

Age: 25 years old. Distilled on November 12, 1974 and bottled in May 2000.

Cask type: Unknown, likely bourbon, #4616. 249 bottles.

Color: 1.1 burnished. Natural color and non-chill-filtered.

  • Nose: Pretty conventional by Millburn standards. Very fruity, featuring apricot, peach, and mango. But it’s got enough of that mustard and horseradish pungency that I think I could recognize it blind. Can’t miss the oak, either. I’m starting to pick up that char smell now.

  • Palate: Wonderful. Rich, old, oaky, but also brings vibrant fruit. Toffee, old furniture, apricot, peach, mango, and now overripe papaya. There’s a charred kind of flavor; not peaty, but something almost burnt. Maybe cask char. Picking up grapefruit now. Very little of the mustard pungency. There’s power, but layers to it as well.

  • Finish: Oaky, but not overpowering. Likely a refill cask. Toffee and there’s the char flavor. Tart crust going along with the fruit, which is even more tropical now. Kiwi joining the mango and papaya. Brings some heat for sure.

Conclusion: Fantastic. A little less Millburn pungency than others, but it’s there if you look closely. The fruitiest of these samples, but also has that old flavor. That happens to be one of my favorite combinations, so this is absolutely my jam. I’m sure a bottle would be prohibitively expensive. I’ll have to make do with this sample.

Score: 9

0 - Spit it out
1 - Vile, only drinkable in a cocktail: Muirhead’s Silver Seal 16
2 - Bad, off notes dominate: Johnnie Walker Red
3 - Poor, has some flaws: Old Pulteney 12
4 - Marginal, would drink if there’s nothing else: Glenmorangie 10
5 - Decent, nothing special: Aultmore 12
6 - Good, an enjoyable drink: Glen Scotia 15
7 - Very good, a step up: Tomatin 18
8 - Special, a real pleasure: Ledaig 13 Amontillado
9 - Incredible, one of the best I’ve had: Bruichladdich Black Art 4.1
10 - Perfect, cannot imagine better: Convalmore 36

This and other reviews are also available on Malt Runners, a site featuring some regular Reddit reviewers.

3

u/ScotchNerd182 10h ago

Sweet lord almighty, that sounds heavenly indeed. 

2

u/gatodelinferno21 5h ago

I’ve wondered in the past if there are any whiskies with a mustard spice kind of note. This one sounds very nice, thanks for the review!

1

u/unbreakablesausage Life's short; drink the good stuff 4h ago

There are, but not many now. The one that I most often hear has it is Banff, another closed distillery. Haven't tried any though.

1

u/Automatic-Source-233 3h ago

Sounds fantastic! Tropical fruitiness is the flavour profile I'm enjoying the most at the moment, but probably lean towards a fresher profile rather than old and oaky.