Dailuaine 9 Years Old 2007 Cask #151 (A.D. Rattray)

A.D. Rattray bottled this Dailuaine, a 9 year old, distilled in 2007, from cask 151, bottled at 57.2%, one of 656 bottles. Dailuaine sits at Carron on the Spey, a big, sherried Speyside malt rarely seen on its own. It sits near Aberlour, in the heart of Speyside by the River Spey.

Drawn off three wash and three spirit stills, giving the heavy, meaty spirit at its heart. A Pedro Ximenez cask added raisin, date and a treacle sweetness. At an extractive age eugenol lends a clove note and lactones a coconut, the spirit rich, malty and full. A first fill sherry cask suits the robust spirit, dried fruit meeting the meaty weight. Dailuaine's heavy, malty make is prized by blenders for the body it gives. The name is Gaelic for the green vale, after the hollow in which the distillery sits. The clean spirit shows the cask clearly, vanilla and fruit over a rich malt.

At its natural 57.2% it is concentrated. Dried fruit, malt and a rich, savoury depth, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. The mouthfeel is heavy, the fruit carried on a meaty, malty body. The finish runs meaty, fruity and warm. This is the robust, sherried malt of Carron.