Dalmunach 5 Years Old 2016 Cask #645A (The Single Cask Ltd.)

A 5 year old Dalmunach from the bottler The Single Cask Ltd, distilled in 2016, from cask 645A, bottled at 64.4%, one of 61 bottles. Dalmunach rose in 2015 where Imperial once stood, a modern Speyside distillery by the Spey. Its eight stills stand in a striking circular cluster around a central spirit safe, a showpiece of modern design.

The spirit was run through the distillery's tulip and onion shaped stills, to build a fruity, grassy character. Ex-Sherry wood added a dried fruit richness to the clean spirit. These early years are extractive, the oak surrendering vanillin as vanilla and oak lactones as coconut to a fresh, fruity make. Years in oak round the young spirit, the fruit deepening to honey and orchard fruit. The clean spirit shows the cask clearly, vanilla and fruit to the fore. Most Dalmunach is laid down for blending, a little finding its way into single cask bottlings.

At its natural 64.4% it is concentrated. Green apple, citrus and a soft vanilla, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. The mouthfeel is light, the fruit carried on a clean body. The close is clean, fruit over a gentle oak. This is a clean Speyside single malt from a modern distillery.