Deanston 18 Year Old Whisky Review!

I'd been wanting to try Deanston 18 for quite some time, and then I came across an older brown label bottling and was left underwhelmed. Hopefully this more recent redesigned bottling will change my mind!

Despite a slight resurgence recently, Deanston is still wildly underrated by whisky fans. Always playing third fiddle to owner Distell's other two distilleries; Islay's Bunnahabhain and Mull's Tobermory which get more attention. Which is a little odd when you think about it, because Deanston is arguably more "mainstream" in its style of whisky, and also in its marketing approach. Tobermory is better known amongst enthusiasts for its dirty peated alter ego Ledaig, pronounced either "Lay-chig" or "La-chayg" depending on who you listen to, while Bunnahabhain love their beautiful but difficult Gaelic names with whiskies like Toiteach, Stiuireadair, Ceobanach, and Aonadh. No, none of those sound anything like they're written! You won't find any of those Hebridean hijinks over at Deanston on the mainland, located in the namesake village found roughly 40-minutes north of Glasgow. This is a more modern and conventional distillery that was only founded in 1965, making it 167-years younger than Tobermory and 85-years younger than Bunnahabhain. Deanston Distillery didn't even last two decades from its initial birth, becoming one of the many distilleries that shut down during the dark times of the 1980s. It remained that way until 1991 when it was rescued by Burn Stewart Distillers, which would later become part of South African company Distell, the current owners. Deanston is yet to reach its 60th birthday but the site itself isn't short on history, with the distillery and surrounding village dating back to the late-1700s when it served as a cotton mill, with the village initially built as housing for the mill workers and their families. The mill was originally powered by water wheels fed by the River Teith that runs alongside and serves as the distillery's water source, while hydro-electric turbines were installed in the 1940s which still provide the distillery's power today. Which would have to make this one of the earliest sustainable Scotch whisky distilleries to be built in the modern era.

When it comes to the whisky, Deanston is again more modern and more conventional compared to the two other Burn Stewart / Distell distilleries. No dry, nutty, hard-edged characteristics like Bunnahabhain, and no dirty, sulphurous, funky characteristics like Tobermory/Ledaig - aside from the occasional sulphured sherry cask of Deanston, at least, which are generally only seen in older independent bottlings. This is a fruity, malty spirit with a good viscosity which lends itself nicely to ex-bourbon casks of just about any description, although they also use a variety of more exotic casks for both finishing and full maturation. I don't think there's such a thing as a "typical" Highland region style of whisky these days, particularly with the islands included as per the SWA regulations. But if you subscribe to the traditional idea of a Highland malt being a drier, spicier whisky in comparison to the traditional lighter, sweeter & fruitier idea of a Speyside malt, then Deanston doesn't really fit in to the Highland pigeonhole. I suppose it's geographically closer to the Lowlands anyway, so let's just add it to the growing list of flavour outliers in the official Scotch whisky regions. Deanston was in high demand from blenders for quite some time, although there's now much more attention given to single malt official bottlings, with a plethora of limited releases that are often finished in some exotic cask type. I have to say though, in my experience those are very hit & miss, and the expensive older examples should ideally be tried before buying. In some cases there's a waxy quality to Deanston's single malt which seems to be particularly evident in teenaged whiskies that have been matured in active ex-bourbon casks, much like that other waxy distillery in the Highlands region; Diageo's Clynelish. This waxy character in Deanston is attributed to an oily build-up in the feints receiver, again much like it is at Clynelish, and I'd argue that it's actually easier to find the wax in a modern Deanston than it is in a modern Clynelish. Case in point is the 18-year old Deanston that we're looking at today. 

It was initially launched in the previous Deanston line-up with the drab-looking brown labels, then was discontinued for a time, and was re-launched circa 2016 after the brand had undergone a complete redesign. I have to say the new designs are a massive improvement visually, and the whisky seems to have improved considerably as well. The flagship Deanston 12-year old is matured in ex-bourbon casks, but it was never specified whether they were first-fill or refill, or a mix of both. Likewise the previous brown label version of the 18-year old, which was labelled as "bourbon cask finish" - so we can safely assume that it was matured in refill casks and finished in first-fill ex-bourbon casks, or at least finished in more active ex-bourbon casks. As stated above I've tasted that version before and it didn't impress, coming across as both too oaky and also a little under-matured. This more recent white label version, however, states that it was aged in first-fill ex-bourbon casks, and given that wording - and the difference in flavour profile - I'm assuming that means it has been fully matured in those first-fill bourbon casks rather than merely finished. Whatever they changed, it's certainly worked. All Deanston single malts do clearly state that they're non-chill filtered, and their single malts are bottled at a minimum of 46.3% ABV. Let's get to it!

Deanston 18-Year Old, 46.3%. Highlands, Scotland.

Matured in refill ex-bourbon casks, finished in first-fill ex-bourbon casks. Non-chill filtered, natural colour.

Colour: Gold. 

Nose: Soft, malty, fruity, waxy. Some oak spices (mild ginger) as you'd expect, but quite clean and not a "bourbon cask bomb" by any means. Rich freshly malted barley, and waxy orchard fruit - red apples, oranges, touch of brown pear). Some golden syrup / treacle, vanilla bean, black pepper, and sweet ginger biscuits (with the pieces of crystallised ginger in them). 

Texture: Medium weight. Waxy, malty, soft & fruity. No heat at all. 

Taste: Rich malty entry. More of those sweet ginger biscuits, vanilla bean, and waxy oranges & red apples. More ginger & black pepper here, and some dried currants too. Touch of nutty fresh oak, and honeyed nectarine heading into the finish. 

Finish: Medium length. Waxy orchard fruits again, more so the red apples here. Ginger and black pepper still there but easing off into the fruity & malty side. Flashes of green apple and lemon peel as it winds down.

Score: 3.5 out of 5. Close to a 4 though - i.e. 7/10.

Notes: Definitely a massive improvement over the old brown label version that I'd tried previously. This is probably the waxiest Deanston that I've come across so far, I certainly don't remember getting any of that in the 12-year old, so maybe it's a little like Clynelish in that regard where the waxiness seems to come out more in the teenaged years and beyond. Since most modern Clynelish isn't as waxy as it used to be - in fact many contemporary bottlings aren't waxy at all - I'd say Deanston 18-year old is a viable alternative. Especially when you consider the crazy prices people are trying to charge for independent bottlings of Clynelish these days!

At $180-200 this Deanston used to be considered expensive for an 18-year old single malt, but here in 2023 it's not as bad as many of the competitors - ahem, Glengoyne 18 - and at least it's bottled at 46% and non-chill filtered, unlike many of the competitors - ahem again, Glengoyne 18! All in all, this is a very nice waxy Highlander that won't be too "out there" for newcomers, but still has enough character to keep the hardened enthusiasts entertained. 

Cheers!