What Makes Deanston 12 So Popular?
This is a big question. With high scores across so many review sites (including our own), impressive availability for a smaller distillery, an accessible price point, and the fact that it’s natural in color, bottled at a solid strength, and non-chill filtered—well, that probably answers it for you.
Deanston also offers a surprisingly broad flavor profile. While the liquid isn’t peated, it has an incredible ability to be either rich with caramel and fudge or lean towards bright tropical fruit. As Davis noted in this one, the barrel spice gives the impression of a whisky much older than its age statement, yet it maintains a balance of soft pastry notes. At times, Deanston can even drift into Clynelish territory, with waxiness and fruit-skin aromas. There’s a lot going on in this whisky.
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Beyond that, the distillery itself is remarkably diverse, experimenting with organic distillates, an extensive range of cask types, and varying bottling strengths.
Who Will Enjoy Deanston 12?
As stated above, this might not be the best single malt scotch for beginners, but will definitely be enjoyed by someone who is more accustomed to scotch.
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That might sound like an overstatement, but we’d be hard-pressed to find someone who isn’t a fan of this core expression. It wears many hats—the only real missing element is peat smoke, but even then, that’s not to everyone’s taste.
Final Thoughts
For a distillery that didn’t get going until 1965, Deanston has made an impressive name for itself, particularly in the last decade. This is a sweet, warming, well-bottled whisky that appeals to beginners, intermediates, and whisky enthusiasts alike. You have to give credit to Distell for allowing Deanston’s core range to remain affordable and widely available in a whisky world increasingly focused on “premium,” “exclusive,” and “small-batch” releases.
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