Dailuaine 13 Years Old 2005 Cask #DMG 12426 (Douglas McGibbon)

The bottler Douglas McGibbon bottled this Dailuaine, a 13 year old, distilled in 2005, from cask DMG 12426, bottled at 59.6%, one of 643 bottles. Dailuaine is the rich, malty Speyside single malt that helped build the Johnnie Walker blends. It passed to DCL and Scottish Malt Distillers in the 1920s and was later modernised.

Made in large copper stills for a rich, robust make, for the rich, full bodied make Dailuaine is known for. Maturation in an Oloroso cask laid dried fruit over the meaty, malty spirit. By the integrating teens congeners fade and esters build, the rich, full bodied spirit growing rounder. The full bodied make rewards a long, patient maturation in good wood. Most of its make goes to blending, with a Flora and Fauna sixteen year old the regular single malt. It sits near Aberlour, in the heart of Speyside by the River Spey.

At 59.6%, undiluted, it is deep and fruity. Orchard fruit, malt and a warm spice, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. The texture is full and rich, the fruit lifted by a meaty malt. The finish runs meaty, fruity and warm. This is one of Speyside's heavier single malts.