Dalwhinnie The Distillers Edition 16 Years Old 1996

A 16 year old Dalwhinnie, a distillery bottling, from 1996, cask D. ST. 312, at 43%. Dalwhinnie takes its name from the old drovers' meeting place on the high road north. For decades its staff doubled as Met Office weather observers, logging some of the coldest readings in Britain.

The spirit was distilled slowly for a clean, fragrant spirit, for a soft, honeyed make with a waxy depth. Maturation in an Oloroso cask laid dried fruit, fig and walnut over the honeyed malt. Through oxidative maturity esters concentrate, apple and pear turning honeyed over the soft, waxy body. The clean spirit shows the cask clearly, vanilla and honey to the fore. Years in oak round the spirit, the apple and honey deepening over the waxy core. It was one of the six original Classic Malts of Scotland, chosen to represent the Highlands. Cook and Bernheimer, then America's largest distillers, bought it at auction in 1905.

At 43% it is clean and soft. Honey, pear and a waxy weight, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. Soft orchard fruit and heather honey sit behind the cask. The finish runs long, gentle and warming. This is the soft, waxy malt of the Drumochter hills.