Dailuaine 9 Years Old 2012 Cask #308764 (Signatory)

This Dailuaine was bottled by the Pitlochry bottler Signatory Vintage, a 9 year old, distilled in 2012, from cask 308764, bottled at 59.2%, one of 317 bottles. Dailuaine is a robust Speyside distillery at Carron, making a full bodied malt mostly for blends. Water comes from the Bailliemullich Burn, the spirit drawn off three wash and three spirit stills.

Made in large copper stills for a rich, robust make, building the heavy Dailuaine style. Maturation came in ex-Bourbon wood, the oak quiet behind the meaty malt. In these extractive early years the oak gives vanillin as vanilla and oak lactones as coconut over a robust, meaty malt. Years in oak round the spirit, the fruit deepening to dried fruit and a savoury spice. Dailuaine's heavy, malty make is prized by blenders for the body it gives. A first fill sherry cask suits the robust spirit, dried fruit meeting the meaty weight.

At cask strength 59.2% it is full bodied. Orchard fruit, malt and a warm spice, with a soft vanilla from the oak. Dried fruit, malt and a savoury spice fill the middle. Dried fruit, malt and a savoury oak see out the finish. This is Dailuaine, a backbone of the great blends.