Whisky Guide > Distillery Profiles > Miltonduff Distillery

Miltonduff - Mosstowie

From 1964 to 1981 Miltonduff also produced another whisky - Mosstowie. In 1955 due to the increased demand from within Hiram Walker for different styles of whisky, a chemical engineer, Alistair Cunningham, designed the Lomond still. This new type of still had a wide neck, which housed three rectifying plates. The purpose of the plates was to vary the amount of reflux that took place within the still and so vary the style of malt whisky produced. The plates could either be filled with cool liquid to increase the amount of reflux, or left dry. They could also be rotated - the horizontal position would maximise the refluxing action while the vertical position would produce the least amount of reflux.

Production of Mosstowie was ceased in 1981 due to two reasons - the rectifying plates would become coated in residue causing process problems, heat transfer, increased cleaning, etc and there was an increased demand for Miltonduff whisky - the main component of Ballantines Blend. A 1979 distillation of Mosstowie is available as part of the Gordon & MacPhail Connoisseurs Choice range. It has a lighter style to that of the Miltonduff with fruity, smoky, earthy notes.

Three other Hiram Walker distilleries had Lomond stills installed: Inverleven, which produced Lomond; Glenburgie which produced Glencraig, and Scapa where a Lomond wash still was used to alter the style.