Dallas Dhu The Last Cask Filled 1983

Dallas Dhu from the distillery's own stock, from 1983, cask 327, at 48%. Dallas Dhu was built in 1898 by Alexander Edward, and made malt for the Roderick Dhu blend. Water came from the Altyre Burn, in the hollow south of Forres where the distillery sits.

Distilled in a single pair of pot stills with worm tubs on Altyre Burn water, for the malty, fruity make Dallas Dhu was known for. It was matured in refill ex-Bourbon oak, vanilla and honey behind the fruity malt. No age is given, but vanillin vanilla and a waxy malt are well integrated. The clean spirit shows the cask clearly, vanilla and honey over a malty fruit. With the distillery long silent, every bottle draws on a finite, dwindling stock. The very last cask was filled on the sixteenth of March 1983, when the distillery closed. The Glasgow blenders Wright and Greig bought it before it opened, for their Roderick Dhu blend, and gave it the name Dallas Dhu. Closed in 1983, it was preserved whole rather than demolished, its profile fixed for good.

At cask strength 48% it is full bodied. A soft, oily fruitiness, with a soft vanilla from the oak. The mouthfeel is oily, the fruit carried on a malty body. The finish is deep, malty and honeyed. This is a single malt from a silent Speyside distillery, now a museum.