Last week we completed reviewing the new Royal Brackla line-up and now it’s time to tackle yet another distillery that went through a big change as part of Bacardi “Last Great Malts” series, Glen Deveron whisky which is actually distilled at Macduff distillery (No, there’s no Glen Deveron distillery).
The official line-up from Macduff was previously known as Glen Deveron and upon the re-launch on September 2015 it was rebranded as The Deveron. But it wasn’t only a re-branding, the whisky changed too as the old Glen Deveron expressions were ditched and instead we get a new line-up with three standard expressions (10, 12 and 18) and one premium expression aged 25 year old.
The initial launch included the 12 and 18 year old so naturally we starts with the 12 year old and later we’ll review the 18 year old as well.
The Deveron 12 (Macduff Distillery) (40%, £34/€47.50)
Nose: Creamy, big mix of soft golden and green apples, honey, nuts (natural cashews), half-squeezed green grapes, a bit of salt and limestone dust. Despite having a low ABV it feels more solid than the Roayal Brackla lineup which was bottled at the same ABV. Continue reading
Nose: At first sniff it feels even younger than 8 yo Glenrothes from the last review. There is a big malt and cereals mix and some beeswax. The sherry casks are felt at first with light dried fruits coupled with sweet and fresh red berries but then the impact slowly turns into a fruitier impact with some apricots and lemon peels along with the red and dried fruits, 
Nose: Malty and creamy coconut, vanilla with a touch of honey, oak wood spices, develops some green apples at the background with a surprising briney note and then slowly some weak sherry impact shows up: chocolate, nutmeg and cinnamon. A very gentle nose.
Nose: Starts off with some youth and malt then the ruby impact quickly covers it with plums and raisins, redcurrants and blackcurrant. After a minute there’s honey, artificial sweetener, vanilla and smoke. 
Nose: It’s young alright with lots of malt notes, sweet malt, bread, cereals and barley sugar. There’s even some roughness but hey, here comes the sherry impact with mellow and sweet dried fruit, some plums, raisins, very subtle comparing to the strong maltiness and is noticeable just enough to balance it out. 
Nose: Unlike the 12 & 16, the 21 Year Old starts with a grassy tone instead of the floral one, a lot of meadow grass and hay notes but slowly the floral notes crawl back. White chocolate, honey, dry but less so than the younger siblings, sweet golden apples, slight sherry impact with dried fruit, nutmeg and cloves, creamy and a bit waxy. After a while, maltiness, subtle dark chocolate and some eucalyptus and menthol shows up. 
Nose: Starts with floral note of violets and a springtime meadow grass, flint and limestone, white chocolate, honey, pears and a lots of apricots. It’s very dry, getting sweeter and fruitier over time, green melon, green apples and unripe mango.
Nose: Well, you can’t miss the fact it’s a Glenmorangie whisky with such a creamy and very soft nose with all those citrus, honey and nutty notes. Upon further nosing there are almonds and some macadamia nuts, even some floral edge, oak wood spices and with some time more explicit malt note. 
Nose: Macallan? Are you sure? It smells like sherried Highland park to me. Peat smoke, lots of sherry goodness, There were multiple casks involved in creating this whisky but I bet there were a lots of Spanish wood casks in the mix. Prunes, dried fruit, gentle nutmeg and to lesser extent cinnamon, quite a fresh and polished nose. With time it gets sweeter and further sherried but still keeping the fresh theme and not going into cloying territory, spicy with a nice dose of white pepper, a bit of dust, cloves, gentle smoke going through all the time. 
Nose: Starts with sweet peat and quickly it turns out to be also dry and salty. Sherry sweetness, salted dried fruit, dirty sherry, pickled vegetables. With additional time more dried fruit and raisins are exposed in addition to unlit coal smoke and bonfire smoke.
Whisky Gospel 