The Singleton of Dufftown 17 Year Old 2020 Special Release

Tasting notes:
In the interest of full disclosure, whenever I see a Dufftown expression I imagine that it comes from the fictional Springfield, not the mythical Speyside.  One thing’s clear, though.  I’m pretty sure Conan O’Brien was still writing for the show when this website last got updated:  http://www.dufftown.co.uk/. 
D’oh!  

The nose of this special offering is high, bright, and citrusy.  Bright lemon zest rasped over parchment paper, or clementine peel pitons strapped tight for a hike up Sugar Mountain.  More details emerge: palm frond soap for spring cleaning the houseplants, a smart papaya missile for preemptive strikes against sadness, and, later, a bit of chalk which we’ll use to keep score.  With water, it opens up like a creamsicle amuse bouche.  

The mouth is a latticed deliciousness concealing a syrupy savoriness.  Like a maple syrup made from angel trees.  I see shiny sterling silver sap taps positioned over pewter pails.  I’m locked in a fruit chamber (Bill: “Stephen, shall we lock him in a star fruit chamber?”  Stephen: “he he.”)  No, I see it more clearly now!  It’s the mind palace of Dole’s chief inspector, Sherlock “Jicama” Holmes, filled with fruit memories.  

This finish is as long as the effort it would take to fully catalog the mind palace of Jicama Holmes.  Which is to say, of course, very long and very spectacular.  There is a nice, long, clean cloy that just makes you want to put your hand up to your mouth in astonishment. It may be best to think of it as a fruit bomb aftermath, or a Richter-scale registering gender reveal explosion.  You wouldn’t be wrong to say that there is a caramel apple at the finish.  But what I get is a Winesap apple made into a tart in the shape of a medieval unicorn corral.

   

Rating:
On the scale of Conan O’Brien’s favorite episodes of The Simpsons—

The Singleton 17 Year Old 2020 Special Release is“Marge vs. the Monorail”– It is packed full of jokes, stands up to the test of time, and, if that wasn’t enough, it features Leonard Nimoy’s first guest appearance. 

   

   

                                                                                      —John

   

   

–Our thanks to Diageo for the sample!