Dalmore Cigar Malt

A Dalmore, a distillery bottling, at 40%. Dalmore was founded in 1839 at Alness, and wears the twelve pointed Royal Stag of the Mackenzie clan. Its spirit stills wear cooling water jackets, condensing the heavier compounds back for a fuller body.

Run through the distillery's unusual flat topped and water jacketed stills, giving the thick, oily spirit that drinks sherry so well. First fill bourbon gave a fuller vanilla and orange over the rich spirit. No age is given, but vanillin vanilla and a rich, sherried malt are well integrated. The cool Highland air on the firth gives a slow, even maturation. Dalmore's sherry comes largely from the aged Oloroso casks of Gonzalez Byass. 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.

Bottled at 40%, it is rounded. Orange, treacle and a warm spice, with a soft vanilla from the oak. Marmalade, chocolate and dried fruit fill the middle. A full, sherried finish ends on orange and dark chocolate. This is a sherried Highland single malt of real depth.