Dalmore 18 Years Old 2001 Wood Range Sherry Cask (Cadenhead’s)

Scotland's oldest independent bottler Cadenhead's bottled this Dalmore, an 18 year old, distilled in 2001, bottled at 51.7%, one of 246 bottles. Dalmore is a Highland distillery on the Cromarty Firth, famous for its rich, heavily sherried single malt. Much of its sherry comes from aged Oloroso casks, the Matusalem, Apostoles and Amoroso butts of Gonzalez Byass.

It was drawn off stills whose cooling jackets build a rich, oily spirit, to build a rich, sherry loving character. Maturation in an Oloroso butt laid dried fruit, treacle and dark chocolate over the oily malt. At oxidative maturity aldehydes and esters lend dried fruit while ellagitannins add a drying, tannic grip. Years in oak round the spirit, the fruit deepening to chocolate, marmalade and treacle. The distillery stands on the firth near Alness, in the Northern Highlands. Vanillin and oak lactones from the wood lend vanilla and coconut over the rich malt.

At a hearty 51.7% it carries real weight. A full, dried fruit richness, with dried fruit, chocolate and orange from the cask. A baked fruit and a warm spice lift it. A full, sherried finish ends on orange and dark chocolate. This is a rich, full bodied Highland single malt.