Dalmunach 6 Years Old 2016 Cask #42 (Best Dram)

This Dalmunach was bottled by the German bottler Best Dram, a 6 year old, distilled in 2016, from cask 42, bottled at 58.3%, one of 237 bottles. Dalmunach is a vast, efficient Speyside distillery opened by Chivas Brothers in 2015. The clean, fruity make is a model of the modern Speyside style.

Worked through the distillery's eight stills for a fruity, light spirit, to build a fruity, grassy character. Maturation came in ex-Bourbon wood, the oak quiet behind the light spirit. These early years are extractive, the oak surrendering vanillin as vanilla and oak lactones as coconut to a fresh, fruity make. Independent bottlers have been quick to release young single casks of this new distillery. Single malt Dalmunach is scarce, the spirit being a blend component first and foremost. It was built in 2014 and opened in 2015 by Chivas Brothers, on the site of the demolished Imperial distillery.

Bottled at a cask strength 58.3%, it is rich. Apple, lemon and a clean malt, with a soft vanilla from the oak. It is fresh and fruity, the young spirit shining through. The close is clean, fruit over a gentle oak. This is Dalmunach, a new Speyside name on the Spey.