As I mentioned in my past review of Dalmore 12, I’ve run low on really rare malts to try at our favourite pub in Leicester, The Parcel Yard. Thus I’m forced to try out some malts that I can’t get back home that I typically move away from.
Dalmore’s are not cheap. That’s a given we all know about. Ignoring the constellation series completely and just looking at the main ones, they act like the princes of the Highland malts. And why not? They are the family that saved King Alexander III from the stag, which in turn they are allowed to show the stag off the front of their bottles.
The Dalmore 15 year goes about aging in a different way from other sherried malts (seems to be a pattern with Dalmore). It spends 12 years in ex-bourbon American oak casks, and then three years in three different sherry casks: Amoroso, Apostoles, and Matusalem oloroso.
Seems like quite a bit to get the flavour, let’s see if this different method turns out with some unique flavours over the 12.
Price: N/A in Ontario
Region: Highland
Abv: 40%
Colour: Hard Caramel
Nose: Plum, cigar, Fruit & Nut Dairy Milk bar, candied nuts, brown sugar, orange peel, currants
Very fruity, but there’s more to this one than just fruit. Complex flavours are mixing and balancing out. There’s a lot of different fruits in it, though the smokey and caramel flavours stand their ground.
Taste: Popcorn, toffee, raspberry, ash, 80% cocoa chocolate, floral, lime, raisins
Remember the show Two Fat ladies? Where basically the entire premise was “we need something to mix with butter so that we’re not just eating butter”? Yeah, the flavour on this one would fit nicely on the show.
It opens up eventually and you’re given a rich, tasty dram.
Finish: Port, lime rind, orange, smoke, basil, fruit cake, hot chocolate, cashews
Nice finish with some sweet notes and rich fruit notes blending to remind you of a nice winter day in a chalet. Or going bonkers on sweets in a sweat lodge, whatever suits you depending on geography.
Conclusion: This is one of the finer Dalmore’s I’ve had so far. It’s balanced, it’s sweet, it conveys the rich tastes they brag about, and it is just complex enough. If it wasn’t so damn expensive, I’d probably recommend a bottle immediately. If you can buy it for cheap, or just have a dram, there’s a much worse Highlands out there, and this one is quite nice.
84/100
Scotch review #104, Highland #16, Whisky Network review #134
1001 Whiskies to taste before you die review #78
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Reblogged this on Toronto Whisky Society.
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