Review by: zSolaris

Distillery: Dalmunach.

Bottler: Dràm Mòr.

Region: Speyside.

Age: 6 Year. Distilled in 2016.

ABV: 58.2%.

Price: Day 5 of Advent Calendar (see below).

Color: 0.4, Jounquil / Ripe Corn. Natural Color and Non Chill Filtered.

This dram is the sixth of 2022’s Christmas Countdown! Whiskies from previous years can be found here.

Every year, I look at the advent calendar offerings that pop up across the pond and think that it would be super cool to do something like that (it is actually the inspiration for my review spree in December). Turns out, I wasn’t the only one who wanted to do one so between /u/federalagents, /u/DangerousDoorknob, and I we put our own together! This is the fifth dram of the calendar.

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Nose: There’s all sorts of sweets in the nose here. I get some caramel, toffee, and something that reminds me a lot of caramel flavored hard meringues. /u/DangerousDoorknob pointed out Maltesers in his notes and I have to agree with that one as well.

Palate: Mouthfeel wise, it feels incredibly heft on the tongue for me. It feels like a very silky caramel instead of the whisky it is. Brown butter cookies and a bit of slightly burnt caramel are the main notes. Towards the end come these really strange herbal notes, they’re something similar to old school Korean red ginseng jellies.

Finish: Medium to short in length. The youth of this dram shows itself here with a bit of a solvent-y finish. More of those red ginseng jellies come through hardcore.

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Conclusion: Built on the grave of Imperial Distillery, Dalmunach has some big shoes to fill. If this whisky is any representative of what Dalmunach might be, they’ve got a good chance of filling them I think. The first half of this whisky is an absolute delight for me. The nose is intoxicating with delicious dessert treat notes. The palate starts with a beautiful weight to it and more of those dessert notes. The back half, however, got a little weird with some more bitter and herbal medicine notes. If they can sort that bit out, I think they’ve got a winner here. Not bad, but ultimately a bit flawed.

Final Score: 79.

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Scoring Legend:

• 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky.
• 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category.
• 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram.
• 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff.
• 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting.
• 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better.
• 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink.
• 50-59: Save it for mixing.
• 0-49: Blech.