Dailuaine 15 Years Old 2005 Cask #DL 13904 (Old Particular)

From the Glasgow bottler Douglas Laing, a 15 year old Dailuaine, distilled in 2005, from cask DL 13904, bottled at 48.4%, one of 444 bottles. Dailuaine, whose name is Gaelic for the green vale, is a heavy, full bodied Speysider. It had its own railway siding and a little locomotive, Dailuaine No.1, known as the Puggy.

It was distilled in large conical necked stills on Bailliemullich Burn water, for a rich, meaty make that suits sherry wood. A Pedro Ximenez cask added raisin, date and a treacle sweetness. Into oxidative maturity, slow air ingress builds fruity ethyl esters (apple and dried fruit) over the meaty, malty depth. The cool Speyside air gives a slow, even maturation, the heavy malt deepening. In 1889 it became the first distillery to use the pagoda roof, the Doig Ventilator designed by Charles Doig. Water comes from the Bailliemullich Burn, the spirit drawn off three wash and three spirit stills.

At a natural 48.4% it is full and honeyed. Apple, dried fruit and a meaty edge, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. The texture is full and rich, the fruit lifted by a meaty malt. It finishes robust, malty and warm. This is the robust, sherried malt of Carron.