Dalwhinnie 13 Years Old 2008 Cask Series 016 (North Star)

From the Glasgow bottler North Star Spirits, a 13 year old Dalwhinnie, distilled in 2008, bottled at 52%, one of 235 bottles. Dalwhinnie, owned by Diageo, makes a soft, honeyed malt at Scotland's highest working distillery. It stands at over a thousand feet above sea level, the highest distillery in Scotland.

Run through the pear shaped stills on soft snowmelt water, the worm tubs lending an underlying waxy weight. It rested in ex-Bourbon oak, the wood adding a light vanilla and honey. By the integrating teens congeners fade and esters build, the soft, honeyed spirit growing rounder over its waxy core. The clean spirit shows the cask clearly, vanilla and honey to the fore. The high reflux of the stills gives a light spirit, the worm tubs a waxy depth. In 1934 a fire destroyed much of the stillhouse, which was rebuilt around the original worm tubs.

At a hearty 52% it carries real weight. Apple, pear and a gentle honey, with a soft vanilla from the oak. Soft orchard fruit and heather honey sit behind the cask. A smooth, honeyed finish ends on pear and a warming spice. This is a gentle, honeyed Highland single malt.