Review by: The Muskox
Between their high prices, their penchant for of caramel colourant, and their tweed-clad nose-walrus of a Master Blender, Dalmore tends to rub a lot of people the wrong way. Once the marketing is stripped away, I personally don’t think their whisky is all that bad. Maybe people would be a bit higher on the distillery if bottles like this 30-year-old offering distilled in the 1960s(!) were readily available and well-priced.
Distillery: Dalmore.
Bottler: Official bottling.
Region: Highlands.
ABV: 45%.
Age: 30 years. Bottled in 1998.
Cask type: Unknown.
Price: N/A, sample.
Color: Colour added. Chill-filtered.
Nose: Very rich deep sherry. Overripe stonefruit, dates, fruit leather, and marmalade on rye toast. Earthy, forest floor, dried mushrooms, walnuts, and soy sauce. Vanilla pudding and cocoa powder.
Palate: Medium-thin texture. Arrives with dried mango and papaya, deepening into darker dried fruit, leather, bittersweet chocolate, and burnt sugar. Develops to rich brown-sugar-crusted oak, cola, and spice, zesty citrus, roast nuts, and toasted marshmallow.
Finish: Fairly long. Cola, ginger, dates, dried mango, chocolate-covered orange peel. Clove and star anise. Demerara sugar and hazelnuts. Tobacco.
Possible SMWS bottling name: “Egyptian mummy’s treasure trove”
Conclusion: A stunning sherry-cask whisky. Gorgeously rich, but with a lighter fruit character riding on top of the deeper richer flavours in a way that really reminds me of the ‘66 Tamdhu that I fell in love with last year. 60s sherry casks just hit different, I guess?
Final Score: 90.
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 