Dalmore Amoroso Sherry Finesse 26 Years Old 1981

Dalmore from the distillery, a 26 year old, from 1981, at 42%, 484 bottles in all. Dalmore is a rich, chocolate and orange Highland single malt, deeply marked by sherry wood. Most expressions are finished in aged sherry wood, giving orange, chocolate and treacle.

Drawn off stills whose cooling jackets build a rich, oily spirit, for a heavy, rich make that suits aged sherry wood. An Oloroso hogshead lent dried fruit, walnut and a dark, treacly depth, soaked up by the heavy spirit. Oxidative, evaporative ageing turns the malt deep and rich, ethereal esters and a faint sotolon (maple). The slow loss of the angel's share concentrates the rich, sherried core over the years. 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. The distillery stands on the firth near Alness, in the Northern Highlands.

At 42% it is clean and soft. Marmalade, chocolate and a malty depth, with dried fruit, chocolate and orange from the cask. Marmalade, chocolate and dried fruit fill the middle. A long, opulent finish carries a chocolate orange depth. This is one of the Highlands' most opulent single malts.