Dallas Dhu 18 Years Old 1982 Cask #1080 (Signatory)

The Pitlochry bottler Signatory Vintage bottled this Dallas Dhu, an 18 year old, distilled in 1982, from cask 1080, bottled at 43%, one of 512 bottles. Dallas Dhu is the best preserved of the lost distilleries, a Victorian whisky museum frozen in time. The very last cask was filled on the sixteenth of March 1983, when the distillery closed.

It was distilled for a malty, fruity Speyside spirit, building the old fashioned Dallas Dhu style. It was matured in refill ex-Bourbon oak, vanilla and honey behind the fruity malt. At oxidative maturity aldehydes and esters lend dried fruit while ellagitannins add a drying, structured grip. Years in oak round the spirit, the fruit deepening to dried fruit, honey and toffee. The cool Speyside air gives a slow, even maturation in the dunnage warehouses by Forres. Refill oak lets the malty Dallas Dhu character lead, orchard fruit and honey beneath. No more was made after 1983, though the distillery still stands as a museum.

Reduced to 43%, it is mellow. A fruity, honeyed sweetness, with a soft vanilla from the oak. A baked apple and a soft toffee lift it. The finish is deep, malty and honeyed. This is a malty, oily Speyside single malt of real age.