Dailuaine 2012 Cask #SC37 (The Firkin Whisky Co. Ltd.)

From the bottler The Firkin Whisky Co. Ltd, a Dailuaine, distilled in 2012, from cask SC37, bottled at 48.9%. Dailuaine is the rich, malty Speyside single malt that helped build the Johnnie Walker blends. Its big stills give a heavy, full bodied spirit that takes sherry wood especially well.

Run through the distillery's big copper stills, to build a robust, malty, sherry loving character. An Oloroso hogshead lent fig, raisin and a savoury, nutty depth, the heavy spirit soaking it up. With no age statement, the oak has given vanillin as vanilla and oak lactones as coconut over the rich, malty spirit. Dailuaine's heavy, malty make is prized by blenders for the body it gives. Its rich, robust malt has long been a backbone of the Johnnie Walker blends. Years in oak round the spirit, the fruit deepening to dried fruit and a savoury spice. The name is Gaelic for the green vale, after the hollow in which the distillery sits.

At a natural 48.9% it is full and honeyed. Orchard fruit, malt and a warm spice, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. A dried fruit and a malty depth give it weight. The close is long, fruit over a rich malt. This is Dailuaine, a backbone of the great blends.