Macduff 2004 (bottled 2017) - Connoisseurs Choice (70cl, 46%)
A lesser known East Highlands distillery also known as Glen Deveron or The Deveron. Part of Gordon and MacPhail's Connoisseurs Choice range, this was matured in Refill American Hogsheads and bottled in 2017.
Production began at Macduff distillery in 1963, and it was eventually purchased by William Lawson, the Scotch whisky arm of Italian giants, Martini & Rossi. In addition to provision for the William Lawson blend, the company also set about bottling its single malt, selecting the name "Glen Deveron," and youthful 5 and 8 year old age statements so make it more marketable in Italy, where its Glen Grant equivalents were best-sellers. Glen Deveron disappeared after Bacardi took over the distillery ownership in 1993, but eventually returned as simply The Deveron. Macduff-labelled single malts were widely bottled by independent companies in the meantime, and continue to be today.
The Connoisseurs Choice label is one of the most recognisable independent bottlings on the market. It was initially created for renowned Italian importer, Edoardo Giaccone in the early 1970s, but became a mainstay of the core Gordon & MacPhail portfolio in 1979.