Dailuaine 12 Years Old 2008 Cask #300741 (Lady of the Glen)

From the bottler Lady of the Glen, a 12 year old Dailuaine, distilled in 2008, from cask 300741, bottled at 56.3%, one of 270 bottles. Dailuaine is the rich, malty Speyside single malt that helped build the Johnnie Walker blends. In 1889 it became the first distillery to use the pagoda roof, the Doig Ventilator designed by Charles Doig.

It was distilled for the heavy, full bodied spirit Dailuaine is known for, for a big, full Speyside spirit. A Pedro Ximenez cask added raisin, date and a treacle sweetness. Through integration spirit and wood marry, vanillin settling into vanilla as ethyl esters lend a riper orchard fruit over the meaty malt. The full bodied make rewards a long, patient maturation in good wood. It passed to DCL and Scottish Malt Distillers in the 1920s and was later modernised. Refill oak lets the robust Dailuaine character lead, malt and dried fruit beneath.

Bottled at a cask strength 56.3%, it is rich. A heavy, malty fruitiness, with raisin, date and treacle from the cask. A baked fruit and a warm spice lift it. A full, malty finish ends on dried fruit and a warm spice. This is Dailuaine, a backbone of the great blends.