There isn't too much to report about Strathmill, it's another of those big, mean blending machines that can pass whole decades without so much as a peep or a gossip inducing bottling. That is not a negative thing, quite the opposite considering many distilleries attention-seeking, gimmick driven marketing habits, it is just a simple fact, Strathmill is a quiet distillery. A traditional Speysider through and through, it has always produced a dependably fruity, and elegantly light, cereal driven malt.

There are not too many bottlings of it so it inevitably suffers from the same lack of exposure that most obscure distilleries have to accept, but it is, nevertheless, a fine Speyside malt with very few dud examples floating about.

Founded: 1891

Stills: 2 Wash 2 Spirit

Water Source: Local Springs

Capacity: 1.7 Million Litres

Owners: Diageo

1968-Present: Fruit, Cereal, Honey & Peace and Quiet.

In 1968 Strathmill was expanded with a second pair of stills, all the stills also had new purifiers fitted to the lyne arms. This is a fascinating addition as a purifier will effectively add anywhere between an extra quarter or half distillation to your spirit. The market was demanding softer style distillates at the time and Strathmill was evidently happy to oblige.

There are very few examples of Strthmill that hail from before 1968, one notable example is a Duncan Taylor 39yo 1962, however, while this is an excellent, rich and unctuous aged malt, any distillery character is largely obscured by a pretty active sherry cask I suspect.

This means that the only Strathmills we can, realistically, hope to try are modern ones distilled after the 68 refit. Thankfully there are several excellent ones. Namely an uber fruity 1976 by Dewar Rattray, an oddball but excellent 1976 by Adelphi and a real surprise in the shape of the recent 1996 Manager's Choice release.

There are not many bottlings of Strathmill but from time to time they do appear, despite the obscurity factor of the distillery I would say it is well worth checking them out as they can be excellent drams when they want to be.