skip to main |
skip to sidebar
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
The weather has been very nice, the beer bubbly, and Kristin arrived Wednesday. Life is good.
These drams are from an afternoon spent with two 21 year olds. And an older, balder, and much more fun Frindian. Inder's notes are in quotation marks. Tasted at the LCBO Tasting Tower at Summerhill in Toronto.
Glenfiddich 21yo Gran Reserva
Rum Cask Finish
40% abv
£55
$149.95(CAD)
$120(USD)
The Glendiffich 21yo Gran Reserva is finished in rum casks and used to be called the Havana Reserve. Due to the US embargo on Cuban products the name was changed to Gran Reserva and many American retailers advertise that it is aged in Caribbean rum casks. Whatever.
This stuff won a gold medal at the 2006 IWSC
For more Glenfiddich distillery info go see Malt Mission #28
TASTING NOTES
Potpurri, unlit incense, vanilla and oak, cloves, BRIO or chinotto
"Thin and sweet". Oak explodes in the mouth with lime and brown sugar. "Grapes". White ones, chardonnay and oak paneling in a bar/tavern that has recently banned smoking.
SUMMARY
Our impressions were really positive, but the best adjective for the experience was "fine". Yeah, it is 'fine' whisky, no off-notes and lots of oaky flavours, but it didnt do too much for us. It is an elegant whisky in that all of its flavours are well integrated like a good sauce; nothing stands out but together the stuff goes well on rice, pasta, or bread. I guess we just coulda used some bread.
Balevenie 21yo Port Wood 
40% abv
£55
$160.15 (CAD)
$130 (USD)
For more info on the Balvenie distillery, please look to future Malt Missions.
TASTING NOTES
I rarely note colour, but this one is distinctly pinkish in the glass. Smells of pina colada, orange Crush, creamsicles. "Red grapes and dusty books". Age and basement mustiness lurks beneath the sexy, creamy sweetness on top.
Mmmm... "Mmmmm..."
Great mouthfeel from all those years in bourbon casks. Deep and dark. "Coffee grinds." Lamb fat. Very little of what the nose suggests, but finishes with a balance of the two perceptions... quickly.
SUMMARY
Very tasty whisky that makes a happy camper out of anyone lucky enough to stick their nose in a glass of the stuff. Hard to get your nose out and actually drink the stuff, it is that interesting to smell. "Yup. Now let's go get a beer and a burger". Off to the Victory Café...North American Adventure #1
North American Adventure #2
North American Adventure #4North American Adventure #5
North American Adventure HOME
Malt Mission HOME
