Millstone Heavy Peated Palo Cortado
Special #31 5yo | 46% ABV
Score: 7/10
Very Good Indeed.
TL;DR
Fun, funky and fresh
Brace Yourselves
We all have our favourites, we just can’t help it.
Doesn’t matter what it is, food, brands, athletes, sports teams, you name it, someone’s got it as their favourite. And whisky is no exception. Dougie has his beloved Ardnamurchan. Many call some of the various Islay distilleries their favourites. For me, and I’ve spoken about this before, I’ve got Tomatin, Loch Lomond, Millstone, and anything Campbeltown squarely in my sights. I’ve amassed quite the collection of each of these and I’ll be chewing through these in short order here on Dramface, but I’m starting with my favourite of the bunch, which also coincided with some very fortunate timing.
At the end of November I was lucky and extremely fortunate enough to attend two Millstone tastings led by Patrick van Zuidam himself. The first tasting, hosted at my local brick and mortar store, after a brisk walk in our snowy winter weather that has suddenly braced us, was just right after Patrick stepped off the plane. Despite the long flight, Patrick launched into the tasting with his typical aplomb, walking us through the eight drinks in front of us. We started off with an amazing - and amazingly simple - cocktail comprising two parts Millstone grain whisky and one part Millstone orange liqueur (40% abv and made from cognac!).
Following that, a 5-grain Canada exclusive whisky that was equal parts spice, graininess, and sweetness tried to wash our palates of the sweet cocktail before a dram of Millstone’s award winning 100 Rye. Two genevers followed, a 5 yo cask strength American oak and a 2012 PX matured one, providing an insight into one of the oldest spirit drinks on the planet and Zuidam’s more traditional take on them to boot.
Next, we dove into malt whiskies. You could visibly see the ripples of excitement flash through the people sitting at the long u-shaped table. Oh, and this was no normal malt whisky: it was their 1996 25 yo Oloroso matured (yes you read that right, 25 years in Oloroso!) Canada exclusive.
Following this indomitable malt lead off was the Special #31 peated Palo Cortado. How did it fare, you ask? Based on the facial expressions of those around us, it fared very well! And my friend who also attended, but sat elsewhere on the long table, subtly pushed this glass forward in his lineup and we shared a knowing look: this was something special - and he bought one later that night.
Following these two powerhouses was a 4 yo peated PX Canada exclusive (Release No. 2) that anchored the tasting with a flourish of re-coopered 100yo sherry bodega butt. While I reviewed 3 yo Release No. 1 previously, you can expect I’ll be covering the now sold-out second release here in short order.
Now the fortunate part: this evening was also my wife’s birthday. After a lead-off with a cheese plate and some red wine, we dove into a shrimp scampi, crusty garlic bread, and paired white wine. After the plates were cleared and the kids romped around for 10 minutes, the kids and I rolled out a carrot and vanilla layer cake with cream cheese buttercream icing. We were stuffed. Now that we were closing in on bedtime and the tasting start time loomed, she practically pushed me out the door. Being the rockstar she is, I ducked out to this tasting and followed that up with our monthly “boys’ night” at a local pub. Yup, I’m a lucky bloke.
Oh, and this brick and mortar puts on a helluva spread!
The following night I attended another Millstone tasting at another store. Kensington Wine Market was releasing their exclusive Oloroso single cask. Despite appearing like a stalker to Patrick after we saw each other, the seven whisky lineup only featured two duplicates: the Palo Cortado and the 4 yo peated PX Canada exclusive, both of which coincidentally anchored the tasting, too.
Turns out that the folks at KWM dug into their archives and pulled out several long-gone releases, including Special #17 (American Oak and Moscatel), other Specials included Oloroso and PX, the KWM-exclusive Oloroso single cask, peated Rivesaltes, peated Amarone, before the Palo Cortado and peated PX Canada exclusive.
I was sitting at the table with five complete strangers - not an issue with when whisky is involved mind you - and the look on their faces as they explored Millstone for the first time. Several looks of astonishments washed across their faces as they explored these Dutch single malts. I walked away with four bottles of the KWM-exclusive bottling; two for me, and two for friends who weren’t able to attend.
It’s been a helluva week, and given my reduced spending on new bottles to fund other more important things in life, I’ll be less shotgun in my “just released” whisky reviews and more focused on my existing collection.
So brace yourselves, I’ve got a phalanx of Millstone headed your way.
Mount Millstone
Review
Millstone Special #31, Heavy Peated Palo Cortado, Dutch Single Malt, Distilled 29-04-2019, Bottled 15-05-2024, 46% ABV
CAD$130 paid (£73)
Matured for its entire life in a Palo Cortado sherry cask. From my sherrygeddon extravaganza, Palo Cortado is perhaps my most favourite type of sherry influence on whisky. So when I heard Millstone was releasing a Palo Cortado-matured whisky was being released, I was desperately hoping that some bottles would hop the pond to Canada. Fast forward a few months and they landed. Hurrah!
Score: 7/10
Very Good Indeed.
TL;DR
Fun, funky and fresh
Nose
Rich and inviting, dark and tantalising. Cold coal smoke. Earthy cellulosic detritus. Brightness in the form of red grapes, blackberries, a citrus undertone. Perhaps a smidge of mint and black licorice once in a while. It’s round, sweet, and dense.
Palate
Gentle but powerful entrance. While I’d have loved to try this at full chooch, the 46% still absolutely works.
A lot going on, wowza. The smoke is funky, coming across as coal smoke, charcoal, and wet peat. It’s full-on and chewy. Under this smothering blanket resides that freshness aspect, again. Lemon icing drizzle. Grapefruit radler. Dark loaf alongside a light brewed coffee. This isn’t all dark and bitter, however; there’s a simple syrup sweetness tying everything together.
A long declining finish of strong ashy and earthen smoke counterbalanced by the lemon citrus and syrup sweetness.
The Dregs
This whisky just reinforces my adoration for this relatively small Dutch distillery. They don’t play by the rules, doing their own thing, and producing whisky that is uniquely and identifiably theirs.
I alternated between a 7 and an 8 on this one, folks. This was somewhat of a chameleon wherein depending if I was sipping this alone, I actually enjoyed this one less, but when in a lineup against other whiskies, it truly shone. So in full transparency I opted to score this a 7/10. I usually pour a single pour at a time in an evening so I chose to represent this reality - and in the end, whisky is subjective and in the eye of the beholder anyways, so the exact score matters less. Good whisky is good whisky, and this is very good whisky.
And in the spirit of bracing yourselves, I have yet to decide which one I should review next. Should I go in order from the oldest release to the newest, or vice versa? Perhaps you can decide if you pixel peep in my Millstone collection and let me know in the comments.
Score: 7/10
Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. BB
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