The Glen Deveron / MacDuff distillery was founded in 1962, which
makes it one of the youngest in Scotland. Even so, it seems to have
changed its name more often than most other, much older distilleries.
The official name kept changing from Glen Deveron to MacDuff & back.

The name of the original founding company was Glen Deveron Distillers
Limited, which was a joint corporation of Brodie Hepburn (also involved
in the Deanston and Tullibardine distilleries), George Crawford, Marty
Dyke and the Duff family. Production didn't start until 1963, but a mere
two years later the number of stills was already increased from 2 to 3.
The number of stills was increased again to four less than two years
later. A fifth still was installed in 1990; Macduff now has 3 spirit stills.

An uneven number of stills is fairly unusual in Scotland.
Most distilleries have an even number of stills; one or more pairs of a wash still and a spirit still. In fact, until the 1950's there was a law that prohibited the wash stills and spirit stills being operated simultaneously. But laws have changed since then and nowadays distilleries like Auchentoshan, Talisker and Laphroaig work with an uneven number of stills.

In 1972 Glen Deveron / Macduff was acquired by William Lawson
Distillers Ltd. (famous for the blend by the same name), which
became part of the Martini & Rossi corporation in 1980. Clearly,
the trend of 'concentration' in the drinks & spirits industry isn't
just a recent phenomenon. And in the case of Macduff it wasn't
even the end of the corporate food chain; in 1992 the owners
Martini & Rossi were gobbled up by the Bacardi Corporation.
They put their subsidiary John Dewar & Sons in charge of the
Glen Deveron / Macduff distillery. Dewar & Sons also controls
(Royal) Brackla, Aberfeldy, Aultmore & Craigellachie. Of these
brands, only Aberfeldy was promoted as a single malt lately.

So it would seem that Bacardi's main focus is on the 'volume' malt whiskies they need
for their many blends. Based on the official 10yo and 12yo expressions that I've tried in
the late 1990's Glen Deveron / Macduff seems to fit well within that policy (decent malts
but nothing to get overly excited about). However, I've had the pleasure of sampling a
few excellent Macduffs that were distilled in the 1960's and bottled by Douglas Laing
and Duncan Taylor. The pearl in Bacardi's crown (as far as I am concerned) would have
to be Royal Brackla. The 'Green' Brackla from Sukhinder Singh is a particular favourite.

The Macduff / Glen Deveron distillery is located on the far Eastern edge of Speyside,
but according to their own labels it's a Highland single malt. Well, since Speyside is
surrounded by the Highlands on all sides (North, East, West and the Midlands in the
South), it's 'technically speaking' part of the Highlands. But those classifications can
change over time. Just like the classifications for whisky 'types' can change. As you
can see from the picture of the old bottle at the right, the phrase ' pure malt' was
used for single malt whiskies in the 1970's - at least by Cadenhead's.

1) The company P. Morrison Ltd. (of 'Bowmore' fame) had an interest in Macduff between 1966 and 1969.

2) Glen Deveron / Macduff is an important part of Bacardi's William Lawson's blend.

3) The combination of two wash stills and three spirit stills is highly unusual in Scotland.
The only other distillery with such a set-up is Talisker on the Isle of Skye.

Glen Deveron 10yo (40%, OB, 'Pure Single Malt', Bottled +/- 1999)
Nose: Sharp. Clean. Apple cider? Fresh maltiness. Quite dull, but lighter and more pleasant than I expected.
Needs a few minutes of breathing to fully develop. It never becomes very interesting, though.
Taste: Weak. Malty. Sweetish center. Not very pronounced. Occasional hint of vomit?
Light fruitiness. Bitter and slightly dry in the short finish. Unremarkable.
Score: 68 points - MOTR, simply not a very good single malt whisky. Too bad.

MacDuff 11yo 1990/2002 (43%, Cooper's Choice, 70cl)
Nose: Fresh. Grainy with a hint of green lemons. Unimaginative.  Sparkly and stale at the same time.
Green apples? Very yeasty. Beer brewing aroma's. Cattle feed. Subtle fruits. Dusty. Mouldy. Peculiar off-notes.
Interesting, but not really my style. It's like the apple cider in the Glen Deveron has gone bad...
Taste: Flat start, becoming smoother, stronger and sweeter. Prickly. centre. Sherried with a big burn.
Lacks some depth and substance. Apples? Other fruits too. Gingerbread! Slightly sweet.
Strange, beerish burn in the finish - hop? The finish is sourish and starts to disintegrate quickly. Plywood.
Score: 75 points - at first sight, this is a slightly disappointing single malt.
But on second sight, the nose is quite unique - certainly much better than the Glen Deveron 12yo OB.

MacDuff 1988/2002 (40%, Connoisseurs Choice)
Nose: very sweet, reminding me of Southern Comfort liqueur. Minerals and a hint of peat.
Quite expressive to begin with and over time it opens up even further when organics join the party.
A very complex nose worthy of a score in the 80's.
Taste: Unfortunately, it was not nearly as impressive on the palate; dry and boring with beer in the finish.
Score: 77 points - despite the lovable nose. With a palate like this I can't really recommend it.

Macduff 17yo 1978/1996 (43%, Signatory, Sherry butt #6673)
Nose: Sweet with some leather in the background. Polished. Antique. Organics.
Nothing very expressive here, but I like the 'austere' and 'antique' character.
It evolves very slowly; after ten minutes some smoke drifted into view.
Taste: Hey, not sweetness at all at first. Nothing at all, really. Then smoke.
It very slowly grows fruitier in the centre - this malt develops in slow motion!
After a few minutes of doubt I was finally sure: this has a pinch of peat as well.
Score: 80 points - despite the watery start and the slow development. Intriguing.

Macduff 1975/1993 (40%, G&M CC Old Map Label).
Nose: Smooth and creamy with lots of subtle fruits, growing maltier and spicier.
A classic profile with a little more 'definition' than usual. A faint hint of smoke?
The spices slowly evolve into subtle organics. Then it drops off after 5 minutes.
Taste: Ooh... Quite flat in the start. It powers up quickly, though... Solid centre.
Gooseberries? Burnt caramel? Dry. Gritty. Not quite as interesting as the nose.
Score: 79 points - The nose starts out great but most of the fun is over in 5 minutes.

Macduff 32yo 1972 (46%, Ian McLeod for Malt Brothers)
Nose: Hint of dust, growing sharper. Old dirty table cloth? Memories of a greater past.
Taste: Bitter, growing dustier towards the centre. Stays bitter - and quite flat - until the very end.
Score: 65 points - to me, this one seems waaaay past its prime... Could the sample have been oxidised?

Macduff 36yo 1969/2006 (59.1%, Duncan Taylor, Cask #3681, 120 bottles)
Nose: Rich & fruity. Complex with some intriguing vinegar notes. Wonderful development. 90's material?
Taste: Whew... The start is a bit odd, but it develops beautifully in the centre. Fruity finish. Quite complex.
Score: 89 points - what a wonderful oldie! Not quite 'perfect' enough on the palate for the 90's, but close.

MacDuff 36yo 1965/2002 (49.2%, Douglas Laing Platinum, 512 Bottles)
Nose: Ooaah. Another 'old school' malt. It's hard to define, but I'm pretty sure now.
Many malts that were distilled in the 1960's show a fairly unique combination of traits.
It's a combination of subtle organics, something 'veggy' and maybe some smoke.
But unlike the Glenfiddich, this has an appealing (and growing) fruity sweetness as well.
Wow, after five minutes the fruit has taken full control. Christmas fruit cake. Wonderful!
Dustier after some more time in the glass. Dentist? Complex and extremely entertaining.
Taste: Hmmm. A little too 'piny' at first, but it sweetens out after a few seconds.
Pine and menthol remain dominant influences. Dry with a hint of oriental spices now and then.
Score: 87 points - I could have gone with 90 points for the nose, but the palate pulls it down by a few points. If I had a bottle of this it would end up on my top shelf and I would sniff more from the bottle than I'd drink.
 

These were not all the (official and independent) expressions of Macduff whisky I've tried over the years.
My Track Record used to contain a complete overview of all the single malts I've tried, but when I passed the 2000 malts mark (and the complete whisky list wouldn't fit on two separate HTML pages anymore) I gave up. My Liquid Log still contains my tasting notes on most single malts I've sampled and scored, though. You can find a specific expression through the search box at the top of each distillery profile. The mAlmanac now contains (purely personal) selections of some of the best single malts and the worst whiskies I've tried so far - as well as the ones with the highest 'Bang-For-Your-Buck' value. But those tasting notes and scores only reflect my own, purely personal opinions. On Serge's distillery profile on Whiskyfun you can find another perspective on the whisky made at this distillery. Check out the Malt Maniacs Monitor on Malt Maniacs for my scores on all expressions I've tried so far - and those of almost all the other certified malt maniacs as well. The Malt Maniacs Matrix contains a few thousand single malts that were sampled and scored by at least four different malt maniacs, so you can compare our individual opinions.