Dailuaine 18 Years Old 1997 Cask #7191 (van Wees)

The bottler van Wees bottled this Dailuaine, an 18 year old, distilled in 1997, from cask 7191, bottled at 46%, one of 282 bottles. Dailuaine, founded in 1852, gave Scotch its first pagoda roofed kiln. Water comes from the Bailliemullich Burn, the spirit drawn off three wash and three spirit stills.

It was worked through the big stills for a meaty, malty spirit, for a rich, meaty make that suits sherry wood. First fill bourbon gave a fuller vanilla over the robust spirit. At oxidative maturity aldehydes and esters lend dried fruit while ellagitannins add a drying, savoury grip. The clean spirit shows the cask clearly, vanilla and fruit over a rich malt. It had its own railway siding and a little locomotive, Dailuaine No.1, known as the Puggy. In 1889 it became the first distillery to use the pagoda roof, the Doig Ventilator designed by Charles Doig. Its rich, robust malt has long been a backbone of the Johnnie Walker blends.

Reduced to 46%, it is mellow. A heavy, malty fruitiness, with a soft vanilla from the oak. Soft orchard fruit and a rich malt sit behind the cask. Dried fruit, malt and a savoury oak see out the finish. This is one of Speyside's heavier single malts.