Singleton of Dufftown 12 years Single Malt

About the Singleton of Dufftown 12 years Single Malt

Singleton of Dufftown 12 years Single Malt is a Speyside single malt Scotch whisky. The strength is 40% ABV, and the spirit spends twelve years in cask. Dufftown itself sits in Scotland's busiest whisky town. Diageo built the Singleton range around three distilleries. This one was reserved for Europe, while Glen Ord went to Asia. Glendullan covered North America. Since 2015 all three have sold worldwide. Dufftown distillery opened in 1895. Peter Mackenzie and Richard Stackpole converted an old meal mill into a working stillhouse. Water comes from Jock's Well, close by. Six steam-heated copper stills run the site today. Twelve washbacks hold 53,000 litres each, and the mash tun takes 10.6 tons. Output reaches around 5.8 million litres a year. That once made it the largest malt distillery Diageo owned. Most of it feeds blends such as Bell's. The nose opens nutty and floral, with green apple and honey behind it. A malty, cereal edge sits underneath and gives the whisky its backbone. On the tongue it turns darker. Chocolate and coffee come through, softened by vanilla and a creamy weight. The finish is long enough to notice. Baked apples and dried fruit arrive, with the coffee note still hanging on. Nothing here shouts. Singleton of Dufftown 12 years Single Malt carries an age statement, which sets it apart here. In 2014 Diageo added Tailfire and Sunray, the first two without one. Spey Cascade followed later. Those bottlings chase a house style rather than a number. An age statement names the youngest whisky in the bottle. This one shows what twelve years in cask does to Dufftown spirit. For years Europe was the only place you could buy it.