Miltonduff 1981 SMWS 17 Year Old 72.10

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS) was founded in 1983 by a group of friends lead by tax accountant Phillip ‘Pip’ Hills as a private members club. The concept behind the society was to source casks from all over Scotland which would then be bottled and made available exclusively to its members. Perhaps the most famous feature of these bottles are the unique codes. Each distillery is represented by a different number and the following digits indicate that particular release. That same year, the SMWS set up its first location in Leith’s Vault buildings in Edinburgh where it still stands today.

This Miltonduff was distilled in July 1981 and aged for 17 years before being bottled in May 1999.

Miltonduff is located in Speyside and is perhaps best known as one of the key malts in the Ballantine's blends. It was purchased by Hiram Walker in the 1930s, who installed the Lomond stills that briefly produced the now sought after Mosstowie single malts in 1964, but these were removed again in 1981. The distillery passed through the hands Allied Distillers before arriving with current owners, Pernod-Ricard, and despite its continued requirements for Ballantine's blends, official bottlings of its single malt have been deemed worthy of bottling by each of its proprietors, a sentiment shared by many independent companies too.

One of 234 bottles.