Dalmore 14 Years Old 2005 Cask #16600212; Batch 20/075 (Connoisseurs Choice)

A Dalmore of a 14 year old chosen by the Elgin house Gordon and MacPhail, distilled in 2005, bottled at 57.6%, one of 254 bottles. Dalmore sits above the Cromarty Firth, its water jacketed stills building a thick, oily spirit. Its long time master distiller Richard Paterson, known as The Nose, shaped the rich house style.

Run through the distillery's unusual flat topped and water jacketed stills, giving the thick, oily spirit that drinks sherry so well. It rested in ex-Bourbon oak, the wood adding vanilla and a soft honey. By the integrating teens congeners fade and esters build, the rich, oily spirit growing rounder. The rich, oily spirit takes cask flavour superbly, especially aged sherry wood. The rich, dried fruit style runs through the core range, from the twelve year old upward. Dalmore's sherry comes largely from the aged Oloroso casks of Gonzalez Byass.

At a hearty 57.6% it carries real weight. A rich, sherried sweetness, with a soft vanilla from the oak. The texture is thick and oily, the fruit lifted by a rich sherry. It finishes rich, malty and warm. This is the rich, sherried Highland malt of Dalmore.