Dailuaine 24 Years Old 1996 Cask #HL 18760 (Old Malt Cask)

A Dailuaine of a 24 year old chosen by the independent Hunter Laing, distilled in 1996, from cask HL 18760, bottled at 50%, one of 301 bottles. Dailuaine is a rich, meaty Speyside single malt from the banks of the Spey near Aberlour. Its rich, robust malt has long been a backbone of the Johnnie Walker blends.

It was run through the distillery's big copper stills, giving the heavy, meaty spirit at its heart. A bourbon barrel held it, vanilla and a soft spice over the malty spirit. Through the evaporative decades the spirit concentrates, esters folding into dried fruit, leather and a warm spice. The clean spirit shows the cask clearly, vanilla and fruit over a rich malt. The name is Gaelic for the green vale, after the hollow in which the distillery sits. The rich, full bodied spirit takes cask flavour well, especially sherry wood. The full bodied make rewards a long, patient maturation in good wood.

At cask strength 50% it is full bodied. A heavy, malty fruitiness, with a soft vanilla from the oak. The texture is full and rich, the fruit lifted by a meaty malt. The finish is long, rich and savoury. This is the robust, sherried malt of Carron.