Abused whisky and responded heartlessly (10)

I believe the answer is:

maltreated

'abused' is the definition.
(synonyms)

'whisky and responded heartlessly' is the wordplay.
'whisky' becomes 'malt' (malt whisky is a kind of whisky).
'and' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'responded' becomes 'reacted' ('react' can be a synonym of 'respond').
'heartlessly' suggests removing the centre.
'reacted' with its centre removed is 'reated'.
'malt'+'reated'='MALTREATED'

(Another definition for maltreated that I've seen is " Abused".)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.

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