Dalmore Valour

We’re just over a week removed from the Whiskyfest I attended and this malt was a pre-fest sample brought down from Detroit by my friend @Generously_Paul: travel retail exclusive, Dalmore Valour. We mixed this sample in with several heavy-hitters: Black Arts 5, Laphroaig Cairdeas Amontillado, Macallan Fine Oak 21, Ardbeg 23, etc. To say it got lost in the mix is an understatement, but Paul was gracious enough to send me home with an extra pour so I can let this one speak for itself- minus all the competition. What follows is that review: Like I said, Dalmore Valour is a TRE. It’s bottled at the industry minimum of 40% ABV, has color added to make it a beautiful (albeit fake), sunset amber. It’s also chill filtered, oily and makes numerous thin legs and large water droplets in the Glencairn. The snob in me wishes Dalmore would quit all the non-sense around coloring and filtration, but Paterson Knows Best... The nose was immediately fresh cut oak and pine, slight sherry cask sweetness and an abundance of simple sugars. All the candy and fruit notes were much lighter than the oak, though. The palate follows suit with lots of soft sherry, vanilla with just a hint of bitterness on the tail end of the sip. Thank to the low ABV there’s a very watery feel to the whole sip and that shortens the flavor profile way more than it should. The finish is short/medium short with an overly dry sensation and a thin mouthfeel. Again, probably due mostly to the short finessing time spent in the port and oloroso casks along with a heavy dose of water to bring everything down to 40%. I’m not sure what Paul had to ultimately pay for this bottle, but I’m going to declare it not worth whatever the amount. This is one of the most uninspired Dalmore’s I’ve had to this point. Sadly, I seem to always end up giving Dalmore some beef over the extra harshness on the palate on most of their drams- well, this one lacks that bite and it would be welcomed with open arms here. This is a very uneventful, almost flavorless experience. I think we need to stick with the age statement stuff from Richard Paterson’s crew. Definitely skip this one- 3 mediocre stars is all I can muster. Cheers.

2 bottles