Dalmore 21 Year

2015 Release is an complex, Single Malt Scotch Whisky by Richard Paterson for the Dalmore Distillery in Highlands, Scotland matured for 21 years. Initially in American white oak & for the last decade transferred into first fill Matusalem oloroso sherry butts from European oak by the Gonzalez Byass bodega in Jerez de la Frontera. With only 8,000 bottles produced. It has an aromatic birth with notes of plum jam, pears with cream, redcurrants, blackberries, black cherry, prune, raisin, tomatoes, sherry, chocolate, coffee, praline, cola, green nut & mint; while a rich & spicy life adds notes of dried fruits, elderberry wine. Damson jam. honey, Sherry, orange, pomegranate, vanilla, walnut, dark chocolate, dates, syrup, licorice, ginger, cinnamon, orange marmalade, spices, tannins, cognac sour cherry; that lead to a long, spicy & bittersweet death. June 2019 / August 2022

Seriously?

Simply amazing

It might strike you as a surprise, but Dalmore does not bottle 21 year old whiskies regularily. Actually in 2015 they did, only 8.000 bottles were released and they dissapeared from the shelves quite quickly. A very fancy expression from this distillery, the decanter has the classic look, but the Box is bigger than my house, lol. Bottled at 42%abv, beautiful chesnut color. On the nose, this might be the greatest aroma i have ever experienced. "Bellísimo" is the spanish word for "incredibly beautiful" which is the only one i can use to describe it. Figs, dates, Macerated fruits; Maraschino Cherries, homemade toffee. Amaretto, Creme brulee. Best aroma ever. On the palate, it fell dramatically, since it felt weak and very watery. Prunes, very velvety. Cherry. There is this red fruitiness. Almonds and a Bourbonish profile. Aftertaste took everything back to greatness. Cinnamon. Christmas cake, cinnamon rolls, pepper. Super fancy; Spicy and dry. Great stuff. Perfect score, very rewarding. Overall, i really want to say this is an outstanding dram, but i cant since the palate, which wasn't bad, wasn't very appealing either. The weakness there was really noticeable, specially when the nose and aftertaste are really close to perfection. A wonderful dram for people who can spend easily; a luxury item for people like me who can drink it once on a lifetime. I believe that the aroma might be the best ever, which is a high distinction. My score for this single malt is 92 over 100, and it is because two of the four criterias got a perfect score.

Perfection. Hands down the greatest whisky I've tried, and probably ever will try. Too many notes, just an explosion of flavours and aromas. Smooth, soft and round but not in any way polished, so rich and intense. How they manage to get this much flavour into one bottle is truly mind boggling.