Dalmore 15 Year

NOSE: The sherry hits you before you even touch the glass. Sticky prunes, cherries, and blood oranges. Candied ginger. Hints of leather, oak, and liquorice linger. Closer up you get rich, soft vanilla and cloves. Wonderfully complex nose. TASTE: Very light but extremely buttery and slick. Mouthwatering. Slight flavors of sultanas, chocolate, and cinnamon. FINISH: Long and sweet like bread pudding with hints of cinnamon and ginger. OVERALL: Fantastic show of marrying sherry flavors with whisky. Simply delicious!

My 2nd Dalmore in the taster tonight. After having tasted the 12Y some time ago, the 15Y is next. First a funny fact about Dalmore. The distillery was founded in 1839 by a guy who made his fortune with the opium trade. A little less funny is the fact that Dalmore master blender Patterson, thinks that he needs to caramel colour his baby's and dilute this and others to a meagre 40%. I do like his idea of creating a blend with 3 different sherry finishes though. Matusalem/Apostoles and Amaroso casks. On the nose I got sweet berrie & cherrie and lots of orange. The presence of sweet sherry is obvious, but the smell of stepping into a flower shop surprised me a bit. A chocolate bitterness finishes this pleasant nosing. On the palate a bit sharper with alcohol than expected with it's 40%. Oranges and sherry deliver the fruity part here, where cinnamon and pepper take care off the spices. Burnt brown sugar and a hint of bitter almond made this one complex and well rounded. The medium slight oaky dry and nutty bitter finish, luckily has a lot of toffee, raisin and orange sweetness to compensate the bitter and dry parts. After rating the 12Y with 84 points, i had high expectations of this one. But sadly I was a bit underwhelmed with this Dalmore. My score is 80 points. 58€/70cl

Nice nose with rich dried fruit aromas. The nose out shines the taste. Good but a bit of a letdown compared to the nose. Somewhat medicinal on the finish.