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The Dalmore 40 yo
Highland Single Malt Whisky
45% abv
£1350
Malt Mission #290, wow.
I look back through this blog and I have to admit, I am pretty proud of myself. That's a lot of focused controlled consumption! Then I look at Kevin's Scotch Blog, Johannes et al's Malt Madness or Serge's Whiskyfun and all is put into perspective. But, to be fair, with that perspective comes the realisations that pride isn't enough to sustain something like this because, a) I don't have the apparent cash flow that Serge has and b) that my passion (but mostly time) is diminishing, much like Kevin's in recent months. It has to be said that one solution to these problems might be to accept advertising on Dr. Whisky. I am not going to lie to you, I have resisted for some time now and turned down two offers I simply could not morally justify in the sacrifice of my credibility and integrity. But as my beloved K consoled me the other night, "we can't afford credibility right now." Valid point. The dilemma continues.
That is the ugly 'real-life' crap that is really none of your business. What IS your business is that in the run-up to Malt Mission 300 I hope to pull out all the £1350 drams that I can (I think this is the only one). But there will be some sweet drams before the closing of THIRD century of Malt Missions. After that I might have ads for porn all over Dr. Whisky and start Dr. Whiskey reviewing bourbons and such. Anyways, to this 40 year old Dalmore...
On the 13th February 1965 this whisky ran from Dalmore's oddly designed copper stills and was filled to American white oak barrels. Kind of mind blowing to think about how long a single whisky maker has been monitoring a few barrels. Four decades! That alone has to be worth something. The final result has been transfered from American white oak ex-bourbon barrels to Europen oak ex-Matusalem sherry casks and finally to casks that used to hold Amoroso sherry. Crafty.
This is one of only 1000 bottles. Thanks to David Robertson, Richard Paterson and Margaret Nicol for sending along the drops and supporting information for this and all drams this week. For all Dalmores had on the mission click HERE.
TASTING NOTES:
Age immediately apparent with lush oak the keynote. Surprisingly malty after so many years of cask influence on a barley spirit. Orange juice or Sunny D, tobacco and ash, black tea, some petrol, banana and maple syrup.
Luscious fruits initially, banana, apples, raisins, blueberries and vanilla, then honeyed tones explode into a toasty oaky bearhug that is in turns drying and mouthwatering. Great flavour ride and a slow drinker.
SUMMARY:
High and low tones of citrus, blueberry jam and oak; great harmony in a fruity, musty and surprisingly malty old beauty.
Malt Mission #286
Malt Mission #287
Malt Mission #288
Malt Mission #289
Malt Mission HOME
The Dalmore 1973 Cabernet Sauvignon Finish
Highland Single Malt Whisky
45% abv
£400
Dalmore has a good reputation for maturing well and some of the distillery's recent releases might prove that (see the 40yo on Friday!). This one expression spent over 30 years of its life in American oak barrels and was then transfered to barrels that once held "the king of grapes", Cabernet Sauvignon from Chateau Haut-Marbuzet from the St. Estephe appellation in France.
This wine-maker has a reputation for producing intensely fruity and spicy wines that are rich and decadent, exactly what The Dalmore is going for with their new "Rare & Prestigious" range, of which this is a part... in case the fancy box and price didn't make that apparent.
For more distillery info or to see all Dalmores had on the mission click HERE.
TASTING NOTES:
Strange nose, its as if the aromas work differently than normal, or something. It's strange. Sweet and sour like tart berries, some fresh paint, candle wax, with a root beer sweetness. Very confectionery, like grape powdery candies, or even children's Tylenol. Sourness appears again and is wholly pleasant, salt water, or like sea air with some drying kelp or sitting on a fishing boat. Soft red plums, some kind of fruit syrup, and some spice like mint and/or sandalwood.
Flavours all up front in attack then jump to the back becoming burnt and barky. Thick and undeniably oily, like old Dalmore's often are. Comes in with more Dalmore characteristics of tobacco and chocolate, or drier, cocoa. Cirtus, berry fruits and brown sugar. Long spicy finish with definite wine flavours, liquorice, and an array of berries.
SUMMARY:
This dram had some crazy movement, is complex, quite rare and/or unusual, and not incredibly whisky-y. Had a salty sour boisenberry thing in the nose and a cognac fruitiness in the mouth. Upon swallowing the malt character and cask influences worked together to announce "yes, I am a whisky". I loved it, but it won't be for everyone. In fact, I have had it before and not been so keen. Moody. The way the doctor likes it.
Malt Mission #286
Malt Mission #287
Malt Mission #288
Malt Mission #290
Malt Mission HOME
The Dalmore 1263 King Alexander III
Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky
40% abv
£120
Yesterday Dr. Whisky received its 200,000th unique visitor. Lots of whisky curious folks out there. Blows my mind, actually. Thank you all so much for reading, linking, sharing and coming back! Maybe we can get our video up to 20,000 visitors this week, too?
Let's finish our Dalmore "week" here on the mission.
One is reminded when looking at such darkly coloured malt whisky that Scots of old used to drink this spirit straight off the still, clear, estery, and potent as owt. By the 1820s, resourceful folks had found the benefit of borrowing oak transportation vessels for wine, sherry, vinegar, herring, etc. and using them to store their spirit. Quickly, folks realised that it would lose some of its fire (both from evaporation, angel's share, and extractive qualities of the wood), become more complex in its aroma and flavour, and take on an gorgeous colour. I imagine the fishy casks would have quickly lost out to the wine ones.
During the 1970’s, 1980s and ‘90s the Master Distiller of The Dalmore, Richard Paterson, filled French wine casks, Mediterranean Madeira drums, Sherry butts from Jerez de la Frontera, Spain, Marsala barrels from Sicily, Port pipes from the Douro and sweet Bourbon barrels from Kentucky with Dalmore's new make spirit. For the launch of this new product he selected the best of these casks, blended them as only he can, found a good bit of distillery-relevant history upon which to hang a story, and thus named this whisky 1263 King Alexander III. From the distiller's notes: "In 1263 the ancestor of Clan Mackenzie saved King Alexander III from being gored by a stag with a single arrow. The grateful king granted him the right to bear a stag's head in his coat of arms, with the motto 'Help the King' (Cuidich 'n'Righ, in the Gaelic language). The Dalmore distillery was long owned by the Mackenzie family, and every bottle of The Dalmore is adorned with this noble emblem: a stag's head, with twelve pounts to its antlers, signifying a 'Royal'."
TASTING NOTES:
Starchy and weighty with oak and dried fruits. Synthetic fruit bubblegum and roasted sweet potatoes with fresh rolling tobacco and some raspberry, too.
Enveloping oak and chocolate, with orange rind and dry wine influence to balance the sweetness. Rich and spicy throughout with a white grape, red plum, and honey sweetness that holds balance against the more bold sherried tones.
SUMMARY:
A very Dalmore-y, rich, sherried-style malt with the added excitement of fruitiness from maturation in French wine and Italian marsala casks; sort of a Cigar Malt/Gran Reserva "DeLuxe". To be fair, it's an odd one, but so is its creator; he won't mind me saying so.
Malt Mission #286
Malt Mission #287
Malt Mission #289
Malt Mission #290
Malt Mission HOME
The Dalmore 15 yo
Highland Single Malt Whisky
40% abv
£45
This new Dalmore 15yo is being marketed as the flagship of the Dalmore range. I used it at a tasting I hosted around Christmas and it was voted dram of the night. It is made up of casks from Gonzales Byass that were used to mature Amoroso, Matusalem and Apolstoles sherries.
To see all Dalmores had on the mission click HERE.
TASTING NOTES:
Decadent richness of melted chocolate, brown sugar, salty butter, avocado, with an incredibly rich backbone of oak. Sweetens with time in the glass with flavours on top of the oak developing from raw ingredients(melted chocolate, butter, sugar, flour) into baked goods (butter tarts, chocolate gateau, brownies). Some maple and grapefruit or orange skin too.
Sumptuous mouthfeel, initially syrupy sweet. Heavy and dense with sherry, oak, and the woody-sweet-spice combos that come with 100% sherry cask maturation. Creamy, slightly burnt, marmalade and patchouli.
SUMMARY:
This is nightcap stuff. A real treat to invite into your mouth, and not just for the flavour but the corner-to-corner enormity and the chewy mouth feel. Too syrupy-sweet for some, but does what (it seems?) it sets out to do.
Malt Mission #286
Malt Mission #288
Malt Mission #289
Malt Mission #290
Malt Mission HOME
Dalmore Gran Reserva
Highland Single Malt Whisky
40% abv
£40
This Dalmore Gran Reserva release replaces the Dalmore Cigar Malt (tasted way back at Malt Mission #24), joining the new line from Dalmore launched in November 2007, and comes with slick new packaging... and pricepoint. We will try to taste all of the recently(?) launched range this week on the malt mission. And by 'this week' I mean over the next 5 posts cuz things are still unbelievably unsettled.
In Scotch whisky production (unlike wine in Spain and Italy) there are no legal restrictions around what one may call their "Gran Reserva" whisky. Perhaps David Robertson (of JMR and Macallan before that) brought it over from Easter Elchies House (the spiritual home of the Macallan; that house on all their bottles) when he moved to Whyte & Mackay (owners of The Dalmore).
This whisky is made up of 60% ex-Oloroso sherry casks and 40% ex-bourbon between 10 and 15 years old all finally married in casks for 6 months. Tasted with TF in a pseudo-scientific manner... juxtaposed with the old Cigar Malt.
TASTING NOTES:
VERY caramelly with chewy chocolate. Mars bar, sugary nougat, cream fudge. Butter tarts. Condensed milk. Caramelly sugar extract flavours. Wood and sugar. How many ways can I say this?
Chunky toffee, caramel chews. Rum and raisin. Stale hazelnuts like in breakfast cereal. Raisin fudge, little blackcurrants as well, and maybe a bit of salt licorice.
SUMMARY:
While I managed to muster up several descriptors, this is relatively one dimensional stuff. It confidently strikes a chord, just one, and sustains it forever. Velvety and incredibly easy to drink.
Malt Mission #285
Malt Mission #287
Malt Mission #288
Malt Mission #289
Malt Mission #290
Malt Mission HOME
Dalmore 12yo 'Black Pearl'
Malmsey Madeira Finish
Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky
40% abv
£30*
Unrelated to this drop, but BBC Scotland will be airing a documentary on Bruichladdich tonight, January 15, 2007, 10pm. Info shared by the Man in the Grotto.
This expression is not a part of "The New Beginning" revamped line from the Dalmore (12yo tasted yesterday, the rest soon), but was released back in 2005 as a special cask finish for duty free outlets. For all Dalmores had on the Malt Mission and more Dalmore distillery info, click HERE.
This whisky gets a long (two and a half years) finish or secondary maturation in ex-Madeira casks. Madeira is often referred to as "the pearl of the atlantic," but the Romans referred to it as "the purple islands" so perhaps the name Purple Pearl would have been better... and if not better, at least alliterative. Dalmore distillery overlooks the black isle so perhaps that is the source of half of this release's name. Whatever. Let's drink...
* - This is a Duty Free price as this is a duty-free exclusive. If you happen to find it at other retail outlets (and if you search, you might) it will tend to be about £6 more expensive.
TASTING NOTES:
Warm wood, like sanded oak or steamy cedar in a sauna. Pineapple cake, orange syrup or liqueur, zesty and fresh on top, bike tires in the middle, and oaky at the core.
Balanced and well rounded with polished oak and tobacco. Some fibrous fish food as well. Becomes fleshy, slight organic bitterness balanced by brown sugar and mandarins.
SUMMARY:
A deep dram that is better enjoyed in big hedonistic mouthfulls than in short scientific evaluative sips. Overall it is a chewy but zesty, rich and balanced dram, but when you start to pick it apart it begins to look a bit 'off' on paper. Deep, delicious, and to be gulped after a meal.
Malt Mission #226
Malt Mission #228
Malt Mission #229
Malt Mission #230
Malt Mission HOME
Dalmore 12yo
Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky
40% abv
£35
Going to have a highland themed week here on the mission starting with a few of my favourite distilleries: Pulteney, Clynelish, and Dalmore.
Hard to believe that after a year of Malt Missions I have had only one Dalmore (Malt Mission #24)! Since then, Dalmore has redesigned their packaging and are in the process of redesigning their website, HERE. The new look maintains their unique bottle design and with a minimalist label and the Mackenzie clan's stag head on clear glass, the liquid inside the bottle has taken centre stage.
Master blender at Dalmore Richard Paterson has re-worked the recipe for this 'new' Dalmore using 50% ex-bourbon American oak casks and 50% ex-sherry spanish oak casks. The new boxes are pretty cool, too.
Back in 1967, R.J.S. McDowall called Dalmore "a man's whisky." We can laugh at the old fashioned language, but still in the 21st century Whyte & Mackay (owners of The Dalmore) use adjectives like "masculine" to describe their products in promotional literature and on bottles. Probably not the best way to tap half of the worlds potential market.
TASTING NOTES:
Sweet and spicy, toasty with honey and marmalade. Fresh orange, chocolate millk, tea. Lots of oak with vanilla and a malty sweetness.
Gentle but with great, mouth-filling depth. Turning dark and roasted, chocolate. Long oaky and mocha-ed finish.
SUMMARY:
Soft and mouth filling without being overpowering or too weighty, this is an extremely tasty drop. BUT the question is whether or not the new recipe justifies the £10 price jump on the old 12yo. Whatever the verdict, this is a wonderful highland whisky above or below the £30 mark... although I wish it was below.
Malt Mission #225
Malt Mission #227
Malt Mission #228
Malt Mission #229
Malt Mission #230
Malt Mission HOME
The Dalmore Cigar Malt
Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky
40%abv
£28
$40(USD)
Sorry about yesterday. I really couldn't smell a thing, let alone breathe. Lousy way to start February, but so be it. Back in business!!!
The distillery is beautifully located in what I can say quite confidently is my favorite region, the Northern Highlands, north east, i suppose; north of Inverness (other whiskies from this area are Pulteney, Clynelish, Balblair, Glen Ord, Glenmorangie, Teaninich, and closed and/or demolished distilleries Glen Mhor, Ben Wyvis, and Brora). The distillery has a gorgeous view over the Cromarty Firth to the Black Isle.
The Mackenzie family, Dalmore distillery owners for over 100 years, were friends with Glasgow blenders James Whyte and Charles Mackay and became a big part of their Whyte&Mackay Blend and a component of Harrods own blends. Dalmore is believed to be the first whisky shipped to Australia in 1870.
The stills at Dalmore are among the most remarkable in the industry. The spirit stills (see picture below, r) have copper clad cooling jackets above the boiling pots to encourage refluxing and the making of a lighter spirit. One of these stills is from 1874. The wash stills (below, l) have unusual f
lat tops like at Pulteney
.
About 85% of the whisky produced is aged in bourbon casks, the rest in sweet oloroso and amontillado, but is all married in sherry butts (source: Michael Jackson, MWC, 4th ed.)
This is a whisky that is often found on offer in the UK at Sainsbury's, Tesco, etc., and currently at The Whisky Exchange. I found a bottle when I was in the U.S. for $30.
TASTING NOTES:
Very together, a rounded ball of a smell. Madeira, oak, buttermilk pancakes, Sweet sticky-toffee pudding. Rum or some other white spirit.
Fat in the mouth, texture gives the impression of being like egg whites. Bitter sweet with orange peels and chocolate, vanilla and chewing on a tree branch. Very woody, like an artisan furniture maker on the side of the motorway.
SUMMARY:
Okay, to be fair, half way through nosing this I lost my sense of smell again. I had a chance to nose and taste before it went though, but usually it takes 3+ sets of impressions. So I re-tasted later and found nothing new to add. Take it or leave it, snotty.
Malt Mission #21
Malt Mission #22
Malt Mission #23
Malt Mission #25
Malt Mission HOME
