Founded in 1896 by Peter Mackenzie at the foot of Glen Dullan, Dufftown distillery has spent most of its life as a blender's malt, its character carefully tuned to do quiet work in Bell's and other Diageo blends. Only in 2006, with the launch of The Singleton, did it acquire any sort of public face, and even then the presentation was aimed at European drinkers trading up from blends rather than at the aficionado.
The 18 year old is the most mature core expression in the Dufftown Singleton line-up. Longer maturation in a combination of American and European oak has allowed the sherry influence to assert itself more plainly, and the result is a darker, more brooding whisky than the 12 or 15.
Dried fruit dominates — fig, date, raisin — supported by walnut, dark toffee and a sprinkle of winter spice. The oak, more prominent here than in the younger bottlings, lends a drying bitterness that keeps the sweetness from cloying. It is, in short, a proper older Speysider: not especially original, but competently made and generously flavoured.
One continues to wish Diageo would bottle the older Singletons at 46% and without chill-filtration. At 40% some of the texture is inevitably lost. But the flavour profile survives intact, and as an after-dinner dram on a cold night it does all that is asked of it.
