Dailuaine Winter 1997 1997 Cask #15561 (Gordon & Company)

A Winter 1997 Dailuaine from the bottler Gordon & Company, distilled in 1997, from cask 15561, bottled at 55.9%, one of 312 bottles. Dailuaine is a rich, meaty Speyside single malt from the banks of the Spey near Aberlour. A fire in 1917 destroyed the maltings, and the distillery was rebuilt soon after.

Drawn off three wash and three spirit stills, for a big, full Speyside spirit. First fill bourbon gave a fuller vanilla over the robust spirit. No age is given, but vanillin vanilla and a full bodied malt are well integrated. 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. Most Dailuaine goes quietly into blends, a robust filler kept in part as single malt. Most of its make goes to blending, with a Flora and Fauna sixteen year old the regular single malt.

Bottled at a cask strength 55.9%, it is rich. Dried fruit, malt and a rich, savoury depth, with a soft vanilla from the oak. A baked fruit and a warm spice lift it. The close is long, fruit over a rich malt. This is the robust, sherried malt of Carron.