Dalmore 10 Years Old 2012 (Hart Brothers)

This Dalmore was bottled by the Glasgow bottler Hart Brothers, a 10 year old, distilled in 2012, bottled at 46%. Dalmore is a rich, chocolate and orange Highland single malt, deeply marked by sherry wood. The Mackenzie clan ran it from 1867, and gave it the twelve pointed Royal Stag, after an ancestor saved King Alexander III from a charging stag in 1263.

It was worked through flat topped and water jacketed stills for a rich, oily spirit, building the luscious Dalmore style. Ex-Bourbon casks held it, the oak letting the full bodied, oily character lead. Through integration spirit and wood marry, vanillin settling into vanilla as ethyl esters lend a riper orange and dried fruit. Maturation in the cool north keeps the rich spirit balanced over the years. Water comes from the River Averon, drawn from Loch Morie in the hills above.

At an approachable 46% it is soft and easy. A rich, oily chocolate orange, with a soft vanilla from the oak. The texture is thick and oily, the fruit lifted by a rich sherry. A full, sherried finish ends on orange and dark chocolate. This is a rich, full bodied Highland single malt.