Higland Laird Dalmore Tasting Notes

Highland Laird Dalmore 2007 (11 year old) 64.4%

Bartles Rawlings International

Bourbon/ Dist: 2007 Btl: 2018/ Tasted: Jun 2018

Now, that is an intensely alcoholic nose, which isn’t a surprise with almost Column still-like dried fruit, straw, apricot, honey, vanilla, barley and hints of lime, ginger and honeysuckle.

The palate is denser and oilier with more noticeable vanilla and toffee’d oak. Hints of apricot, lemon, honeysuckle, lime and ginger. The finish is quite masked but does show a touch of raw, toasty oak.

Diluted the nose becomes quite floral – honeysuckle and orange blossom, even the honey seems perfumed! The oak displays a real tannic grip, almost akin to French oak, but some buttery vanilla softens. On the palate the emphasis still is on the grippy, toasty and creamy oak, although the fruit is still there and slightly fleshy in character. Long, vanilla’d and slightly citric. For an American oak aged expression of Dalmore the spirit is very clean and quite vibrant.

Malts of Scotland Dalmore Tasting Notes

Malts of  Scotland Dalmore 1996 (21 year old) 57.4%

Sherry Hogshead 17063/ Dist: 1996 Btl: 2017/ Tasted: Mar 2017

Very soft aromas of coffee and treacle with hints of malt, milk chocolate, raisin, sultana and a touch of citrus. There’s plenty of character from the oak with developing burnt wood, astringent herbs, sweet orange, dark chocolate and a touch of vanilla.

The palate is quite tannic and grainy but supple with plenty of balancing treacle. There’s a touch of dark chocolate, herbs and a slight bittering from the wood, but like the nose the treacle and malt balances. Subtly citric with a touch of coffee. Long and remaining coffee’d  with peppery tannins and drying wood notes. Impeccably clean and quite impressive for a sherry monster!

Carn Mor Dalmore Tasting Notes

Carn Mor Strictly Limited Dalmore 2000 (14 year old) 46%

Bourbon/ Dist: 2000 Btl: May 2015/ Tasted: May 2015

An aromatic, barley led nose. A lovely combination of barley in all its facets – hard, sweet and lightly gristy barley with hints of lime, white fruit, honey and creamy/ buttery oak. With time a touch of toasted toffee, earth and light wood spice emerges. Very appealing!

The palate is full and robust with, no surprise, plenty of barley along with hints of thyme, oregano and drier oak tannins. The oak becomes increasingly ‘Bourbony’ and it darkens a shade on the middle as the malt and treacle comes through. Very long, Bourbon oak finish with subtle spices and an almost rye-like herbalness.

Mackillop’s Choice Dalmore Tasting Notes

Mackillops Choice Dalmore 1989 (24 year old) 51.2%

Bourbon Cask 7631/ Dist: 1989 Btl: Apr 2014/ Tasted: May 2014

The nose is over brimming with fragrant barley, luscious herbal honey and perfumed white fruit. Some beautifully fresh citrus emerges along with hints of straw, minerals and fragrant vanilla oak.

A soft, barley led beginning with some fresh American oak. Fleshy apricot follows along with hints of sweet coconut, toffee, lightly oxidised, nutty fruit, malt and herbs. The finish is wonderfully fresh with a lingering sugar dusted toasted coconut note.

Mackillop’s Choice Dalmore 1990 (26 year old) 54.6%

Bourbon Cask 252/ Dist: Jan 1990 Btl: Sept 2017/ Tasted: Nov 2017

Aromas of earthy, straw-like white fruit, barley and hints of coffee, baked fruit and mature American oak. Slightly buttery with time and some subtle Cognac-esque apple and cinnamon appear along with a touch of coriander powder.

The palate is luscious and coffee’d with honey, straw-like barley, Cognac-esque apple and hints of pepper, clove, cinnamon and wonderfully mature oak. The oak and baked fruit character carries through onto the mid palate and the finish is exceptionally long with malt, fruit and spice. A lovely, mouth-filling malt!

Hunter Laing Dalmore Tasting Notes

Hunter Laing Old Malt Cask Dalmore 1996 (16 year old) 50%

Refill Bourbon Hogshead/ Code: OMC2261/ HL9816

Dist: Oct 1996 Btl: May 2013/ Tasted: June 2013

A truly beautiful nose of butterkist barley with hints of honey and grass. Wonderfully deep with a light minerality and a touch of citrus. This must be the most elegant Bourbon oaked Dalmore I have come across!

The palate is full and juicy opening with crunchy honeycomb, barley and some gently sweetened honey. It displays a lovely maturity with hints of straw and flax on the middle along with a touch of white fruit and apricot. Amazingly long, grassy and citrusy with a seriously stony finish. However the balancing honeyed sweetness is ever present. This is divine!

Douglas McGibbon Dalmore Tasting Notes

Douglas McGibbon Provenance Dalmore 2001 (10 year old) 46%

Bourbon/ Code: PRV0724/ Dist May 2001 Btl: Oct 2011/ Tasted: Oct 2011

A soft, slightly earthy nose with a hint of berry fruits in syrup, crisp barley and a touch of honey. Quite pleasant for a Bourbon casked Dalmore.

The palate opens with some lovely spicy honey followed by the intense alcohol. When that clears it leaves a fudgy/ toffee’d oak character. A bit on the short side but pleasant nevertheless.

Douglas McGibbon Provenance Dalmore 2001 (10 year old) 46%

Bourbon/ Code: PRV0767/ Dist May 2001 Btl: Feb 2012/ Tasted: Feb 2012

A feinty and oily nose of syrupy sweet tinned fruit. A bit murky and faintly metallic. The palate is oily and industrial. hard, murky, acerbic, grubby, underdeveloped with a murky spice finish.

Douglas McGibbon Provenance Dalmore 2002(?) (11 year old) 46%

Bourbon/ Code: PRV0685/ Dist: 2002(?) Btl: June 2013/ Tasted: July 2013

Quite a full nose with lightly grassy white fruits. Slightly oily with a touch of manure and vanilla.

The palate opens with some sweet barley and light honey. Quite full with vanilla and a touch of soft toffee. Very mineral/ stony finish with the oils lingering.

Douglas McGibbon Provenance Dalmore 2000 (12 year old) 46%

Bourbon/Code: PRV0974/ DMG9051

Dist: June 2000 Btl: Mar 2013/ Tasted: Apr 2013

An earthy and slightly oily nose with hints of cereal and rose petal marc. Quite young with a touch of nascent oak.

Light and simple on the palate, again displaying a lot of oily, youthful cereal and marc-like notes. Some dried straw and malty, baked fruit comes through on the middle. Long and a little austere on the finish with hints of spice and cream.

James MacArthur Dalmore Tasting Notes

James MacArthur ‘Old Masters Cask Strength Selection’ Dalmore 1997 (12 year old) 59.8%

Bourbon Cask 5604/ Dist: 1997 Btl: 2009/ Tasted: July 2009

A very earthy/ dunnage laden nose. Quiet peated for a Dalmore. Surprisingly medicinal and fishy. Good depth but becomes increasingly candied. The alcohol prickles and there is a marc-like note. Not much wood influence here. The palate is soft with lots of garden flowers and rose petal marc. Not as much peat as you would assume from the nose and the intense alcohol is a bit searing. The finish is quiet candied.

Water softens the nose and brings out a lovely perfumed tangerine notes along with some hints of almond, honey and a brief vanilla oak nuance. It sends the earth and peat aromas to the background. On the palate it softens and homogenises. It’s pleasant, but like the Glendullan ultimately unexciting and it becomes very candied.

James MacArthur ‘Old Masters Cask Strength Selection’ Dalmore 1997 (12 year old) 59.8%

Bourbon Cask 5604/ Dist: 1997 Btl: 2009/ Tasted: May 2010

An earthy, phenolicaly peated nose, with hints of higher alcohols, some perfumed orange blossom fruit, grist and heavy oils. The perfume really builds and it’s a frankly odd combination of perfume and peat!

Dry and alcoholic on the palate. Soft and slightly cardboardy to begin with. There’s old wood notes – hickory and liquorice followed by that perfumed peated botanicals character. The alcohol masks the finish.

With water the peat simply vanishes!?! In its place is some slightly industrial (that’s a synonym for dirty and murky!!) orange fruit and the oak is definitely more pervasive adding a slightly soapy, vanilla-butterscotch note. Sweeter on the palate, and more homogenised. Slightly soapy and seems a lot younger with the peat trying to put in a reappearance at the death.

Duncan Taylor Dalmore Tasting Notes

Duncan Taylor Rare Auld Dalmore 1990 (18 year old) 56.7%

Bourbon Cask 7329/ Dist: 1990 Btl: 2009/ Tasted: Mar 2009

Deep and oily aromas of mature, earthy fruit, light coffee along with a touch of grist, white liquorice and some botanicals. Over time it develops a marc like quality with those familiar decaying rose petals and farmyards nuances. Very intriguing it finally moves into rum-like territory. A constantly changing and challenging nose!

The palate is surprisingly light in body with the Guyana rum like character evident from the start followed by botanicals, light toffee, white liquorice and some farmyardy/ earthy fruit. The alcohol is quiet intrusive. Water emphasises the light coffee, chicory, spices, herbs and marc, the oiliness recedes somewhat. Interesting and definitely not what I expected.

Douglas Laing Dalmore Tasting Notes

Douglas Laing Old Particular Dalmore 2005 (13 year old) 48.4%

Refill Bourbon Hogshead/ Code: OLD0765/ DL13370

Dist: Oct 2005 Btl: Jun 2019/ Tasted: July 2019

The nose is a little industrial with barley, apricot, orange and tangerine. Although it’s pleasantly fruity the industrial notes become very dominant and there’s not enough balancing sweetness.

The palate opens with industrial barley and hints of apricot, tangerine and subtle vanilla oak. There is a little more sweetness on the palate but still not enough to offset the industrial character of the spirit. Long, earthy, slightly citric and straw-like barley finish.

Douglas Laing Old Particular Dalmore 1996 (17 year old) 54.8%

Bourbon/ Code: OLP0080/ Dist: 1996(?) Btl: Feb 2014/ Tasted: Mar 2014

An intensely pungent nose. Very herbal, granity and oily with hints of rose petal marc and an almost Manzanilla sherry green nuttiness, plus hints of manure, earth, edgy, brittle barley and decaying straw. The aromas definitely have a Lowland-esque quality to them.

The palate is earthy and oily and seems a lot younger than 17 years. I would guess that quite a wide cut was taken as it feels heavy with impurities and rose petal marc-like notes. Quite ‘toshan-like with earthy barley, manure and a pungent, alcoholic finish.

A drop of water emphasises the oils and its youthfulness on the nose. On the palate it bring forward the earthy barley.

Douglas Laing Old Particular Dalmore 1997 (17 year old) 55.5%

Refill Bourbon Hogshead/ Code: OLD0133/ DL10427

Dist: May 1997 Btl: Aug 2014/ Tasted: Sept 2014

Mature and straw-like aromas with hints of lime butter. Hints of camphor and herbal rye-like notes emerge with a slight salinity and late balsamic, malty notes.

The palate is quite earthy and veering towards the industrial end of the spectrum. Again there is an abundance of straw-like white fruit and gritty tannins. The middle is pretty dry and austere. Good finish though with lingering mature barley and straw notes.

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Douglas Laing Old Malt Cask Dalmore 1999 (12 year old) 50%

Refill Sherry/ Code: OMC2031/ DL7096

Dist Apr 1999 Btl: Apr 2011/ Tasted: June 2011

A gritty, golden honey coated Satsuma nose accented by citrus rind high notes and a light Tequila-esque spicy rose petal character. Quite intriguing with some light caramel and barky charred wood.

The palate is robust and oily with some full-on, spicy oak to begin. A large dollop of honeyed barley briefly fills the mouth along with a fleeting herbal/ nettly note before its back to the oak riding in on a delightful wave of oily, nutty marzipan. Good length with some burnt, spicy marmalade orange rind in the finish. Possibly a bit heavy on the oak, but good fun nevertheless.

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Douglas Laing Premier Barrel Dalmore 1999 (12 year old) 46%

Bourbon/ Code: PBR0097/ Dist: Apr 1999 Btl: July 2011/ Tasted: July 2011

A hard, spirity, industrial nose with lots of burnt caramel and a touch of cardboard along with hints of prunes and dried fruit.

The palate is oily and sugary sweet, again the burnt caramel is oppressive and like the nose it’s quite industrial. Slightly tart citrus and bitter oak finish.

Dewar Rattray Dalmore Tasting Notes

Dewar Rattray ‘Cask Collection’ Dalmore 2013 (5 year old) 59%

Bourbon Cask 2465 – Rum Octave Finish

Dist: May 2013 Btl: Nov 2018/ Tasted: Feb 2019

The nose displays the very obvious rum cask sweetness along with cereal, dried apple, waxy apricot and big, chunky, ‘in yer face’ oak vanillins. The alcohol is pretty well contained although there is a little prickle, which in fact balances the sweetness rather well.

The palate is full and sweet with rummy dried fruit, waxy apricot and hints of almond, cereal and straw. Again the alcohol is well contained and balances the sweetness and oiliness. Lightly herbal and waxy finish with hints of herbal spirit and menthol.

With water the nose is a little simpler and displays more vanilla and sweet waxy fruit. The palate is lighter now with more straw-like barley and less waxy fruit. Pleasantly spiced finish. I love the sweetness that the rum cask imparts and I don’t get any industrial distillery character either!

Dewar Rattray ‘Individual Cask Bottling’ Dalmore 1999 (11 year old) 59.1%

Bourbon Cask 3080/ Dist: 1999 Btl: 2010/ Tasted: Aug 2010

Whoa! Oak and alcohol city!!! Pervasive aromas of caramel-vanilla-butter erupt like a Scandinavian volcano! Yes there are hints of some maderised fruit, balsamic vinegar, coffee and botanicals but the balance is definitely tilted in the oak direction.

As you would expect the palate follows a similar theme. Yes there is a touch of earthy fruit but it’s instantly pummelled to death by the oak and the alcohol. Adding some water doesn’t really make a whole lot of difference, maybe there is a touch more botanicals on the nose, but the palate just becomes overly candied.

Dewar Rattray ‘Individual Cask Bottling’ Dalmore 1999 (14 year old) 53.5%

Bourbon cask 1939/ Dist: 1999 Btl: 2014/ Tasted: Jan 2014

The nose opens with some beautiful honey kissed barley, followed by fleshy, sweet apricot, gooseberry, greengauge, ginger, lemon grass and some light oak.
The palate is quite stony and granity with straw-like apricot and sweet honey. Gently spiced with a developing perfumed fruit note. The alcohol masks the finish.
With water the nose darkens as the treacly malt emerges. The barley develops a lovely fragrant sheen.

The palate is softer and a little simpler, but it brings out the Sugary which now cost the fruit. A little botanical spirit note emerges but I have to say this is an exceptional bourbon casked Dalmore.

Dewar Rattray Vintage Cask Collection Dalmore 1992 (28 year old) 45.1%

Bourbon Barrel 1758/ Dist: Mar 1992 Btl: Sept 2020/ Tasted: Nov 2020

The nose opens with brandy butter and very sawdusty oak. Hints of pepper, edgy rye-like spice, mature tropical fruit, marzipan, barley and apricot. A little heavy on the oak but the oak is wonderfully fragrant. With time lemon, lime and gooseberry.

The palate kicks off with barley, citrus and more compressed oak. Hints of rye-like spice, lemon and developing chunky oak vanillins. A touch of mature baked apple, cinnamon, ginger and lime comes through on the middle. Long and oaky but the citrus kicks in to leave a malty, mature finish. It’s good but I’m not sure its £248 good!