Belgium’s own, Bert B. came into the Cadenhead’s shop in Amsterdam (The Netherlands), with a tale of buying the ‘Winkeldochters’ in an old liquor store in a long forgotten town, near the coast. Howling wind and rolling bushes through the streets. Winkeldochters translates into shop’s daughters. It’s a great Flemish word for those items that are around for a long time in a shop which in fact never get sold.

Well one of these bottles he bought was this Dufftown from Cadenheads. He opened it in the shop and we tried this. He didn’t like it then and exchanged it with Andries (The Cadenhead’s Shop owner) for a wedge of cheese, a cup of coffee and a wooden clothes pin. Andries was kind enough to pour me a nice sample of this (100ml) to take home with me. Cleaning out the closet, I stumbled across this sample, so here it is…

Color: On the edge between copper gold and copper brown.

Nose: Very musty Sherry. Boiling vegetables with great spices like nutmeg immersed in the nicest oak. This is no plan oak you get on the nose, but this has the finest oak smell I’ve come across in a long time. Tarred toffee and a lot of dust. Dry with liquorice. Sawdust and gravy. The nose is actually pretty fabulous!

Taste: Thick musty Sherry. Tarry and again quite a bit of wood, but very nice. Lots of red and black berries followed by a nutty flavor. Very nice warming and very fruity finish with some stale toffee and quite a lit of tar, with a little complement of bitterness. Oxidation did wonders for this Whisky. Let it breathe. Wow.

First time around I scored this a measly 87 points, but that was from the freshly opened bottle. This time around, where the whisky was allowed to breathe, it definitely a lot better. I’ll have to revise my score…

Points: 92

Bert, aka Mr. BenRiach is also the man behind Asta Morris. Probably no coincidence Asta Morris never bottled a Dufftown. Bad call though, Bert, to leave this behind, but thanks a million bro! Thanks also to Andries for providing me with such a large sample. I will enjoy finishing this. Cheers!