Review by: The Muskox
In today’s episode of “wait, you’re 900 whiskies deep and you haven’t reviewed this one?”, we have this classic Highland single malt. Yes, I have had this whisky before, I just haven’t gotten around to taking notes yet! Dalwhinnie’s lightly-peated worm-tub setup makes it a sleeper hit distillery among some of my more nematodephilic friends. I myself own a rare indie bottling of Dalwhinnie, which I really need to finish writing up my review of.
Please cut me some slack on the rocks glass, I was at a friend’s.
Distillery: Dalwhinnie
Bottler: Official bottling
Region: Highlands
ABV: 43%
Age: 15 years.
Cask type: Bourbon casks.
Price: My buddy picked a 1 L bottle up at an airport for $117.
Color: e150. Non-Chill Filtered.
Nose: Sweet and rounded. Creamy vanilla, honey, and caramel. Yellowish fruit flavours of tangerine, caramelized banana, and even a little pineapple. Light smoke – flickering paraffin candles.
Palate: Medium-thin texture. Arrives with dripping honey, clementines, peaches, and vanilla. Develops to light oak, more wispy candle smoke, and a little buttery olive oil.
Finish: Fairly light, less fruity here. Marshmallows lightly toasted over a campfire. More honey and a little maple syrup.
Possible SMWS bottling name: “Candlelight vigil in remembrance of better Highland distilleries”
Conclusion: It’s better than I remember it being! It’s a very light and straightforward take on the standard Highland-style malt – precisely why it was picked to rep the Highlands by Diageo. Or, maybe it’s blended to be stereotypically Highland because it’s the Highland Classic Malt! Anyways. It’s not exciting, but there’s nothing at all wrong with it. It’s not complex enough to be a point of focus for an evening, but I’d be very happy sipping on this while doing something else.
Final Score: 79.
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.
Malt Runners 