Dailuaine 48 Years Old 1974 Cask #7561 (Private Collection)

From the Elgin house Gordon and MacPhail, a 48 year old Dailuaine, distilled in 1974, from cask 7561, bottled at 47.7%, one of 96 bottles. Dailuaine is a full bodied Speyside malt of real depth, mostly bottled by independents. It passed to DCL and Scottish Malt Distillers in the 1920s and was later modernised.

The spirit was made in large copper stills for a rich, robust make, for a rich, meaty make that suits sherry wood. A sherry cask wrapped the rich spirit in dried fruit and a nutty depth, a fine match for the heavy malt. Ethereal and old, decades draw the malt to a rich, waxy depth of sotolon, old oak and dried fruit. Dailuaine's heavy, malty make is prized by blenders for the body it gives. Its big stills give a heavy, full bodied spirit that takes sherry wood especially well. Long ageing turns the fresh fruit towards dried fruit, fig, leather and a warm spice.

Bottled at a cask strength 47.7%, it is rich. Orchard fruit, malt and a warm spice, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. A dried fruit and a malty depth give it weight. The close is long, fruit over a rich malt. This is Dailuaine's heavy, meaty Speyside style.