Dalmore 12 Years Old (40%)

A 12 year old Dalmore, a distillery bottling, at 40%. Dalmore, on the firth at Alness, makes one of the most luscious, sherried malts in the Highlands. The Dalmore range climbs to some of the oldest and most expensive whiskies in the world.

The spirit was made in copper stills whose water jackets give a heavy make, for a full, opulent Highland spirit. An Oloroso hogshead lent dried fruit, walnut and a dark, treacly depth, soaked up by the heavy spirit. Through integration spirit and wood marry, vanillin settling into vanilla as ethyl esters lend a riper orange and dried fruit. The water jacketed stills give a heavy spirit that soaks up sherry over a long maturation. The Mackenzie clan ran it from 1867, and gave it the twelve pointed Royal Stag, after an ancestor saved King Alexander III from a charging stag in 1263. An aged Oloroso cask suits the rich spirit, dried fruit and chocolate meeting the oily weight.

Bottled at 40%, it is rounded. Orange, dark chocolate and dried fruit, with dried fruit, chocolate and orange from the cask. A baked fruit and a warm spice lift it. The finish is long, rich and chocolatey. This is one of the Highlands' most opulent single malts.