Dailuaine 8 Years Old 2011 Cask #800470 (A.D. Rattray)

From A.D. Rattray, an 8 year old Dailuaine, distilled in 2011, from cask 800470, bottled at 57.2%, one of 132 bottles. Dailuaine, founded in 1852, gave Scotch its first pagoda roofed kiln. Its big stills give a heavy, full bodied spirit that takes sherry wood especially well.

It was distilled for the heavy, full bodied spirit Dailuaine is known for, for a rich, meaty make that suits sherry wood. It was matured in refill ex-Bourbon oak, vanilla and a soft honey behind the rich malt. At an extractive age eugenol lends a clove note and lactones a coconut, the spirit rich, malty and full. The rich, full bodied spirit takes cask flavour well, especially sherry wood. Most Dailuaine goes quietly into blends, a robust filler kept in part as single malt. The clean spirit shows the cask clearly, vanilla and fruit over a rich malt. Most of its make goes to blending, with a Flora and Fauna sixteen year old the regular single malt.

At cask strength 57.2% it is full bodied. Dried fruit, malt and a rich, savoury depth, with a soft vanilla from the oak. Dried fruit, malt and a savoury spice fill the middle. The finish is long, rich and savoury. This is one of Speyside's heavier single malts.