Dalmore Gran Reserva

40% abv

Score:  84/100

So sayeth the sages: this Dalmore Gran Reserva was a replacement for the Cigar Malt.  If rumours are to be believed (and surprisingly, in the whisky industry, they often are) then the reasons for this replacement were due to a more politically aware viewpoint, forced or otherwise, suggesting that it was inappropriate to market the malt with ‘cigar’ on the label.  Really?  C’mon.  Alcohol and smokes have always been tighter than Tom Cruise and crazy.

Further refutation may lie, I would argue, in the fact that the Dalmore website still offers up a Cigar Malt Reserve.  A higher end version, yes, but obviously the naming convention is still in tact.  Hmmmm.  Can’t always trust the scuttlebutt, I suppose.

Moving on, and keeping our ears to the ground ’round the watercooler…further gossip suggests that this malt is simply a repackaging of the now obsolete standard Cigar Malt expression.  I welcome correction here from anyone ‘in the know’, but I can unequivocably state that I have put these drams head-to-head several times now and there is no comparison.  The Gran Reserva is rather balanced, spicy and pleasant, while the Cigar Malt I found pungent, malty, heavy and cloying.  I should also note this release at 40% abv and the Cigar Malt at 43%.

Anyway…unless my bottle of the CM was a dud, these are most definitely entities unto themselves.  And on record…this one kicks the piss outta the other.

Gran Reserva is a mix of Oloroso and Bourbon cask-matured malts, with the ration skewing more heavily towards the former.  Logically you’d expect sweetness, dried fruits and spice.  Check, check, check.  This is all well met by a very typical Dalmore orange note.  Component casks are between 10 and 15 years of age.  Nice whisky.  I like this one.

Nose:  Doughy.  Some cinnamon and creme caramel.  Vanilla.  Orange.  Fruity Ju-jubes…and/or maybe a hint of Wine Gums.  Nice spice profile.  Pronounced, but not loud.  More like ‘well-articulated’ spices.

Palate:  Orange again.  Very pleasant warm spices.  Chocolate (both milk and white varieties).  Wow…is this ever soft and pillowy.  An easy sipper.

This is a ‘library malt’ to me.  Armchair, Hemingway, Dalmore.

– Reviewed by:  Curt

– Photo:  Curt

Dalmore Vintage 2001

48% abv

Score:  84/100

Nifty l’il Dalmore here.  A limited edition vintage release from 2001.  Seeing as this was bottled in 2011, you’re looking at just a young’un.  10 years old actually.  The malt, while still recognizably young, behaves a little older than its years, in carrying some rather heavy dried fruit notes and lumbering vanillins.  Sherry influence meets the affects of active cask vanilla leaching meets young spirit.  Or so I’d guess anyway, but hey…that’s only a guess.

While the distillery is not in the top tiers for my personal affectations, I do like the rather consistent approach they take to producing whiskies.  Each is unique, but bears certain hallmarks.  Recognizably Dalmore, in other words.  Carving out your niche in a rather saturated whisky market is to be lauded.  And man…do I love the 12-point stag’s head adornment on each bottle.  Dalmore looks sexy sitting on the shelf.  No extra points; just sharing a personal positive bias.

As of now, I’m not 100% certain what the outturn was for this release, but I would imagine several thousand bottles would be a safe bet.  Information on this one, in my wee meanderings, has been rather sparse, but the backstory isn’t as important as the future.  And the future, for this guy, holds another dram.  So let’s get on with it.

Nose:  Big, big, big florals.  Like eating freshly churned vanilla ice cream out of freshly carved oaken bowls.  Malty.  Orange marmalade and pepper.  Some dried fruits, cinnamon and candied ginger.  Maybe some syrupy pear…maybe apple…either way, some white fruit.

Palate:  Wine-ish.  Some coffee notes and dark chocolate.  Dried fruits and figgy bits.  Moves on into tannic plum skins.  Some nuts and oak.

Enjoyable dram, of course.  In case you couldn’t tell. 

– Reviewed by:  Curt

– Photo:  Dalmore

Dalmore 1263 King Alexander III

40% abv

Score:  86.5/100

I’ve seen this referred to as a ‘luxurious aged malt’.  Not sure what that actually equates to in ‘whisky years’ (similar to human years, though the life expectancy in a cask is much lower 😉 ), but let’s just assume there is something likely approaching the two decade mark due to the creamier fluffy baking notes, balanced spices and soft fruits.  The enormity of the grape influence here is relatively obscuring however, making it difficult to venture any sort of meaningful guess as to true age.  But who cares, right?

This is built on a whole mishmash of cask wizardry.  Oloroso, Madeira, Marsala, Port, Bourbon, Wine…maybe more.   Bloody hell.  Must have been a job and a half trying to strike some sort of harmonious balance here.  Kudos to Mr. Paterson of Whyte & Mackay though, as he seems to have succeeded in his machinations.  No dissonance to be found. 

Amid all this mad Willy Wonka-like ingenuity, sits a rather quality dram.  This is the true art of blending.  Finding casks that work together and determing proportionality (is that even a word???).  Paterson has upped the ante here though and decided to show us his ‘A’ game.  Sort of a ‘look what I can do’ thing.  Fun and keeps me reaching for the glass.  And ultimately…that’s all that matters.

For those curious as to what the nomenclature of this dram is all about…here’s a little backstory for ya, from the good people at Dalmore:

“In 1263 the ancestor of Clan Mackenzie saved King Alexander III from being gored by a stag with a single arrow. The grateful King granted him the right to bear a stag’s head in his coat of arms, with the motto ‘Help the King’ (Cuidich ‘ N Righ, in the Gaelic language). The Dalmore Distillery was long owned by the Mackenzie family, and every bottle of The Dalmore is adorned with this noble emblem: a stag’s head, with twelve points to its antlers, signifying a ‘royal’.”

Nose:  Some creamy caramel.  Nice almond paste notes.  Mixed  fruits; both dark, fresh and juicy as well as the dried variety.  Lemon and orange zests.  Something like a vanilla pudding.  Raisin scones and iced sugar cookies.  Soft milk chocolate.

Palate:  An odd pithy sort of dryness.  Orange and chocolate.  Now some rather big wine notes.  Tobacco.

Thanks to my mate, J Wheelock of Authentic Wines And Spirits for the snazzy wee sample bottle you see above.  Cheers, friend. 

– Reviewed by:  Curt

– Photo:  Curt

Dalmore 15 y.o.

40% abv

Score:  87.5/100

I’ve yet to find one, but I’d love to try a Dalmore with a few years on it that was matured in nothing but refill hogsheads, free from any sherry or wine influence.  I think it would be brilliant to experience the naked spirit and see how it suits my palate. 

Dalmore puts out rather intriguing and complex whiskies but, in all fairness, they’re rather adulterated and there’s a lot that can be massaged with the sweet notes of sherry or wine.  I’m more than ok with this, as I do love nicely sherried drams, but it’s simply the nature of my curiosity and whisky nerdery that I’d relish the opportunity to see this malt a little more…exposed.

This is Dalmore at 15 years.  A rather decent way along the path to maturity.  The whisky here is deep and interesting already, bearing the hallmarks of nice spirit/wood integration and the great mellowing influence of time.  Aged in 100% sherry casks (matusalem, apostoles and amoroso apparently), this is sweet, as you’d expect, but sweet in a rather moderate way.  It has a great natural home preserves sort of quality about it.  Deep red macerated fruits, ‘jammy’ is the term we usually use, are front and center, but the creamy nature of notes such as chocolate, caramel and custard temper any tendency to overpower with tangy fruits.

The strength here is in the nose.  Palate is good too, but the nose definitely scores an extra point.

Nose:  Pepper and florals.  Caramel.  Quite wine-y.  Hint of raspberry coulis and other bold dark fruits; some dried and some fresh and jammy.  Coffee.  Lemon and orange.  Chocolate covered strawberry cream.  Fresh, but mellow, unlit tobacco.  Creamy custard.

Palate:  Wines are right up in front.  Rather tannic.  Bittersweet chocolate.  Orange, as expected.  Dries into woods and wine notes.

– Reviewed by:  Curt

– Photo:  Curt

Dalmore 40 y.o.

40% abv

Score:  93/100

Oh, thank god. 

Right up front I want to say…this whisky is freaking awesome.  Love it.  Complex, deep and incredibly well-made.  I would give my right…er…arm for a bottle of this.

Now…forgive me a few moments of self-indulgent oration.

Never a huge fan of Dalmore, I had nearly resigned myself to not laying hands on a dram from this distillery that truly lit my fire.  Their standard range of malts are, for the most part, quite decent, but not really in my wheelhouse.  Their older releases are novelties released at insultingly unjustified price points.  Not certain where Richard Paterson and team got the idea that everything they release should command a fat four figure price tag (especially in contrast to distilleries like Glenfarclas releasing brilliant 40 year old whiskies at less than $500).

Anyway…I know there are many expressions released by Dalmore that have had their praises sung from the rooftops, yet the prohibitive pricing scheme has kept those whiskies out of the hands of most of us laymen.

Here’s the rub…

Many malters I’ve spoken to feel the same way I do.  The younger expressions of Dalmore are not awesome.  Quite decent, but not reaching the highs we’d hope for.  These are, of course, the very same malts that regularly get reviewed and never really earn the raves that could possibly (in theory, anyway) justify a distillery assuming they could position themselves as I’ve mentioned above.

Dalmore is a distillery that could really benefit from the execution of a concept like the release of a high strength, low price, quality whisky.  Something for the punters to pick up…sink their teeth into…and start to create some buzz.  I’m thinking of something along the lines of Aberlour a’bunadh, Glenfarclas 105, Auchentoshan Valinch, Ardbeg Uigeadail, etc.  Richard…if you ever read this…please?

Anyway…you see where I’m at with this, right?  Ok.  Hopefully I don’t twist an ankle stepping down from my soapbox.

The whisky at hand is a 40 year old Dalmore, and holy hell is it good!  I went in with rather low expectations, simply due to previous experience with the more ‘everyday’ malts in the Dalmore range, and I had my socks knocked off.  I tacked this single malt on to the back end of a Dalmore range tasting, and it was kind of like having a game of pick-up soccer/football with your mates and having Devid Beckham join in.  This whisky is simply in another league. 

Big price tag, but this is a big whisky.  Perhaps this time it is vindicated. 

Nose:  Paint and latex and all those sexy as hell mature cask notes.  Juicy concorde grape.  Rich woody notes and some tight rings of smoke.  Pepper.  Tangerine, pineapple, papaya and deep threads of black current.  These latter tie in with eucalyptus to remind me of black currant Halls cough drops.  Chocolate.  More fruity notes in rivers of dark caramel.  Quirky, odd and great.

Palate:  Smoke, old wood and latex.  Leathery and drying.  Orange emerges with some tobacco.  Again…some black currant notes.

Thanks to J Wheelock for the sample.  Appreciate it, mate.  Wow. 

– Reviewed by:  Curt

– Photo:  Courtesy of the fine folk at Authentic Wine And Spirits

Dalmore Cigar Malt

43% abv

Score:  71/100

This is…not good.  At least for me.

I tend to take the approach that most single malts are decent.  In order to be bottled as single malt there is an inherent quality necessary and assumed, otherwise those funky casks would be buried away as blend fodder. 

For this reason, and I think most reviewers take the same approach, most whiskies will score relatively high marks and it is a rare occasion to cross swords with a malt that I would go so far as to say ‘I don’t like this’.  Usually the worst I’ll say will be along the lines of ‘it’s ok’.  Here and there though, we’re bound to find one or two that just don’t sit right with our particular preferred flavor profiles.  Are they bad?  Well…not necessarily, but maybe they are just unsuited to what we find appealing as individuals.  Other folk out there may swoon for ’em.  Hey…there are, after all, people who enjoy surströmming.

Anyway…back to the opening statement.  Not saying the Dalmore Cigar Reserve is bad, just that’s it’s not really good either.  The malt-heavy, overly-generic, and rather cloying nose just does not work for me.  This is the nadir of the Dalmore range though, so on the positive front…it’s all uphill from here.

Finally…novelty titling aside…how does one market a dram as specific to pairings with cigars?  While I enjoy a cigar and malt together, there is simply no two ways about it:  a cigar will deaden the receptors that make sensitivity to the nuances of the malts function.  Logical conclusion…any dram could go with a cigar so long as it was bold enough to fight back against the smoke.  Personally, I’d be leaning towards cask strength though.  Just my two cents, which are likely worth half as much.  😉

Nose:  Very malt heavy.  Dusty almond.  Almost a burnt caramel note.  Nutty and vegetal.  Old leather.  Sprinkle of pepper.  Autumnal decaying leaves.  Spice, but not in balanced proportion.  Cloying malt.  A mate suggested ‘rotting cantaloupe’.  ‘Heavy’ and vaguely unpleasant.

Palate:  A clumsy malt, really.  Cantaloupe and pepper.  Nuts, woods and grains.  Leather.  Ginger.  Dry and tannic.

– Reviewed by:  Curt

– Photo:  Curt

Dalmore Castle Leod

46% abv

Score:  88/100

Here’s a cool little Dalmore.  This is a 1995 vintage that was bottled in 2011.  I suppose that effectively makes it a 15-16 year old, depending on exact bottling date.

But it may have been Sinatra who said ‘age ain’t nothin’ but the way you wear your hat’, so let’s forget about the actual numbers and move on.

I have no real love for wine-finished/matured whiskies.  Occasionally it works out just fine, but more often than not the wine simply overpowers the malt and adds a super sweet and tangy edge that makes me think ‘hangover’ before I’ve even taken first sips.  Of course, I am speaking in vague generalities here, knowing full well there have been some great drams I’ve sampled wherein the whisky and wine were linked as beautifully as ebony and ivory.  Bruichladdich, in particular, has levied some great examples (with a few duds along the way) of wine-influenced single malt on us.  Pays to keep an open mind.

This release, the Dalmore Castle Leod was a limited run of 5000 bottles from ex-bourbon and sherry casks which met and spent a further 18 months sloshing around in Bourdeaux wine casks.  As expected, the end result is a fairly mature dram with a solid upswing of sweet grapey notes.  The typical Dalmore profile of malt, orange and caramel is by no means undermined by the wine here, as the ‘finishing’ influence, while rather lengthy, has not overwhelmed the end product.  Nice balance.  I like it.

Castle Leod was put together by W&M’s Richard Paterson to both celebrate a longstanding relationship with the Clan MacKenzie, family members of which at one time owned the Dalmore distillery, and to help raise money for restoration work on the namesake castle, which is prominently featured on the packaging.  The castle itself dates back to 1606 and was apparently quite reknowned in times of yore for the healing properties of local spring waters.

Personally, I love these fascinating ties to the land and history that distilleries often use to assert providence. 

Nose:  Almost a hint of smoke with the caramel.  Leather and playdough.  Orange and wine-y grape notes.  Quite digging the nose here.  The wine is rather restrained.  Sweet and spicy.  Nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger…none overpowering.  Nose outshines the palate a bit, but they are quite in balance really.

Palate:  Now the wine is a little more vocal.  Sweet fruits from the grape influence:  cherry, orange and some more berry-type fruits.  Nice spice blend.  A hint of something mature buried in here too.  Maybe an older cask or two, or perhaps just great wood with the right amount of calming influence on the volatile spirits and fortified grape juice.

– Reviewed by:  Curt

– Photo:  Curt