Dalmore 30 Years Old (42.8%)

A 30 year old Dalmore, a distillery bottling, at 42.8%, 1318 bottles in all. Dalmore is a Whyte and Mackay distillery known for its opulent, dried fruit rich style. Most expressions are finished in aged sherry wood, giving orange, chocolate and treacle.

The spirit was worked through flat topped and water jacketed stills for a rich, oily spirit, for a heavy, rich make that suits aged sherry wood. A Marsala cask lent raisin and brown sugar to the oily malt. Ethereal and old, decades draw the malt to a rich, waxy depth of sotolon, old oak and dried fruit. An aged Oloroso cask suits the rich spirit, dried fruit and chocolate meeting the oily weight. The full bodied make rewards a long, sherried maturation in good wood. The cool Highland air on the firth gives a slow, even maturation. Its long time master distiller Richard Paterson, known as The Nose, shaped the rich house style.

At 42.8% it is gentle, sweet and fruity. Dried fruit, orange and a treacly malt, with plum, chocolate and red berry from the cask. A dried fruit and a chocolate depth give it weight. The finish runs rich, fruity and warm. This is the rich, sherried Highland malt of Dalmore.