Dalmore Rivers Collection, Tay Dram

I have already talked about that back in 2011, Dalmore release a collection destined to gather funds to help the preservation of Scotland's rivers Tay, Tweed, Spey and Dee. After having one expression, i have doubts of the overall quality of this drams, since that first one, Tweed Dram, was good but nothing too memorable. This time i opened the famous "Tay Dram", which seems to be the most expensive of the four bottlings. Bottled at 40%abv. On the nose, this is sheer perfection. Caramelized oranges, maraschino cherries, granola power bar. Red berries, chocolate and raisins. After letting it breath for a while, i got a thick moka note. Fantastic aroma. On the palate it is a little more "human". Red fruits, tobacco and plums. Strawberry marmalade. The second sip was a little weak. Strawberries, ginger, liquorice. Aftertaste is a good spin off from the rest of the criterias. Tobacco, salt, grassy, sulphur, cigar and coffee beans. Overall, this is a lot closer to a Dalmore Cigar Malt than to a Dalmore 12yo. A very good, complex, full of character dram. Lovely really, i truly enjoyed it. I believe that a higher abv could have driven this to the clouds, but still at 40%abv, this is great stuff. Of course i don't expect a charity dram to be released at 55%abv, and the fact that this single malt is really good despite the basic abv, its something that is worth mentioning. My score for it is 93 over 100.