Dallas Dhu 19 1982 Signatory Vintage

Thanks to /u/jolarbear for this sample.

For those of you who have missed the past times I’ve done this: Near my birthday, earlier this month, I reviewed my samples from my birth year, 1982. This is Birthday Dram #3.

Dallas Dhu closed down in 1983. Money issues mixed with a water supply issue saw it close.

Dallas Dhu 19 1982 Signatory Vintage was distilled almost a year before the distillery closed down. By that point, it’s fair to believe that maybe the workers didn’t know about the money issues. Sometimes that can be hidden. They must have known about the water supply issue though, so did they hope this went somewhere? Or did they just hope it didn’t end up being poured out?

So Dallas Dhu 19 1982 SIgnatory Vintage is what came out of it. Sherry cask, decent age, watered down (boo) but here, nonetheless. I’m lucky to be trying a second Dallas Dhu, let alone one made right before the well went dry. Let’s see how it tastes, shall we?

Price: N/A at the LCBO

Region: Speyside

Distilled: March 18th, 1982

Bottled: May 9th, 2001

Age: 19-years-old

Cask Type: Sherry cask

Butt # 354

Number of bottles: 802

Abv: 43%

Colour: 7.5Y 9/4

Nose: Almond, buttermilk, cereal, mint

Lighter nose. Nutty, a bit of acidity/mint, a bit of cereal. Think somewhere between nut milk and buttermilk.

The Abv. is at play here. I think it’s a refill cask given the sherry is quite light here.

Taste: Cashew, brine, cloves, sorghum syrup

More nuttiness. Works well with the brine. Some cloves. It needs more of the brown sugar or caramel, but never quite gets there. It’s more of a rough raw sugar element. I associate that with sorghum, maybe you feel that brings balance.

Finish: Cereal, hot, grape, birch, mint

Hot finish. Very dry, lots of cereal and dry elements. The grape doesn’t float long enough to balance out the heat or cereal.

Conclusion: Hot cereal in the morning. This feels like there was something there beyond the cereal, however given it’s from an IB, it’s from a dead distillery, and when it came out (and that it’s still on the market) I get the feeling it wasn’t getting better anytime soon and was put on the market to pass it along.

Not all casks come out nice. This was nice to sip on, nice to have just to relax, but the finish is rough and like the last birthday dram, it has trouble launching or really taking off from the sideshow elements (we need a main show, just watch Dumbo).

73/100

Scotch review #1047, Speyside review #286, Whisky Network review #1633