Millstone – 5 Year Old Peated

Another whisky that we had the opportunity to sample at a Weber and Trings tasting session. This time both of the Real Dram boys were together for the fun, which made it all the more interesting. We signed up for this session, as neither of us had tried any of the whisky created by Zuidam, in fact neither of us had ever tried a single Dutch whisky. The one and only time that I had been to Holland, was for football tour when I was 14 and that didn’t end well. The less said about broken sinks and lost shoes, the better!!

Millstone whisky is a product of the Zuidam Distillery, which is located in Baarle-Nassau, nestled between the borders of Holland and Belgium. The distillery was originally set up to produce Liqueurs and Genevers, but they began experimenting with whisky creation in 1996. The whisky gets its name from the mills, which are used to grind the grain that becomes the whisky. As the distillery is very small, much of the process is hand driven and therefore the whisky can be said to be almost hand made.

Today’s dram up for review was the only peated whisky that we tried on the evening, the Millstone 5 Year Old.

Price: £50-60

Appearance: Light caramel brown.

Aroma: Sharpness and fruit of lime, followed by a waft of charcoal smoke, that floats by without ceremony.

Taste: For a peated dram, this whisky starts very quietly and without great posture or pizazz. It casually loiters on to the tongue, with a buttery, sweet flavour that has really floral notes. This places you outside and makes you wait.

As you pause, expecting to be slapped around the face with the smoke a gentle breeze wafts across the tongue carrying with it some charcoal smoke. However its not acrid or pungent, but very subtle. You are drawn back to the field, walking toward a small cottage, fire burning, but very much still in the distance. At this point there are fruity, citrus notes and also another note, which I found difficult to place, but there was something countryside walk about it.

The final notes are light and the finish short. The main notes here are a golden sweetness of caramel and a peaceful, but lip numbing flavour of aniseed spice.

Mouthfeel: Subtle, quiet and needs time.

Overall: This is a really intriguing whisky, at first sip it felt underpowered and a little thin, but with time it revealed more. There is something oddly outdoorsy about this dram. Maybe one to climb to a peak in a hip flask and to savour as the view stretches out before you.

Real Dram Factor: 7.6

More information: Millstone Whisky

Purchased: Weber and Trings

Buy Online: Millstone Peated Single Malt