Dailuaine 11 Years Old 2012 Cask #5052 (BB&R)

The London merchant Berry Bros and Rudd bottled this Dailuaine, an 11 year old, distilled in 2012, from cask 5052, bottled at 55.3%, one of 493 bottles. Dailuaine sits at Carron on the Spey, a big, sherried Speyside malt rarely seen on its own. Its big stills give a heavy, full bodied spirit that takes sherry wood especially well.

It was distilled in large conical necked stills on Bailliemullich Burn water, for the rich, full bodied make Dailuaine is known for. Ex-Sherry wood added a deep dried fruit richness to the full bodied malt. In integration lactones (coconut) and vanillin (vanilla) knit with the malt, fruit deepening to dried fruit. Vanillin and oak lactones from the wood lend vanilla and coconut over the meaty malt. The clean spirit shows the cask clearly, vanilla and fruit over a rich malt. Its rich, robust malt has long been a backbone of the Johnnie Walker blends.

At its natural 55.3% it is concentrated. A rich, full bodied sweetness, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. The mouthfeel is heavy, the fruit carried on a meaty, malty body. Dried fruit, malt and a savoury oak see out the finish. This is a rich, malty Speyside single malt.