Dalwhinnie 30 Years Old (51.9%)

A 30 year old Dalwhinnie, a distillery bottling, from 1989, at 51.9%, 6978 bottles in all. Dalwhinnie is the soft, heather honey Highland malt distilled at Scotland's highest and coldest distillery. Cook and Bernheimer, then America's largest distillers, bought it at auction in 1905.

It was made on soft hill water and condensed in worm tubs, building the gentle Dalwhinnie style. Ex-Bourbon casks held it, the gentle American oak letting the honey lead. At a great, fragile age oxidation rules, sotolon lending maple and dried fig as beeswax and honey linger. Long ageing turns the fresh fruit towards honey, dried fruit and a soft spice. The distillery briefly swapped its worm tubs for modern condensers in the 1980s, then returned to the worms when the spirit changed. The clean spirit shows the cask clearly, vanilla and honey to the fore. Active wood frames the fruit without overwhelming the gentle Highland spirit.

At 51.9%, undiluted, it is deep and waxy. Soft heather honey, apple and a gentle malt, with a soft vanilla from the oak. Pear, honey and a creamy malt fill the middle. Apple, honey and a soft oak see out a long finish. This is a Classic Malt of real charm.