Dalwhinnie 15 Year

One of the smoothest I’ve had

Rating: 16/23 Bottle kill tasting. N: A lot more salt and brine than I remember. It makes me think of Oban 14. There's also some sweetness, spice, wood, and smoke. P: Sweet with clear creek water, salt, occasional faint brine, light (but clearly present) smoke. Not a ton of fruit, but there is some light fruit in with that sweetness - and even a hint of red fruit. A bit of wood with some light vanilla and plenty of punchy spice. Decently rich and full, but not exceptionally so. A bit tart, but not waxy. F: Creek water, spice, brine, vanilla, vague wood. Not bad, but a bit haphazard. - Conclusion - I spent most of my time with this bottle thoroughly underwhelmed. It doesn't have much personality, but it has enough personality and brashness that the tagline "the gentle spirit" really doesn't suit it. That said, it's grown on me since I purchased it. I can find better options in this price range, but for $53 I don't regret my purchase. I once thought that this was a tad better than Càrn Mòr's Glen Grant 26 from 1992 (matured in a bourbon barrel). It's now readily apparent to me that this is less mature, although it has a wider variety of flavors. While that doesn't inherently make this inferior, I find that there's this nectar quality to the Glen Grant that I prefer. This also has some more sulfur. That isn't always bad, but it does kind of stand out here. Some more age would clearly benefit this. Look, something like Pure Scot Virgin Oak clearly deserves the title of "the gentle spirit". This, however, is remarkable in how representative of a scotch it is. That isn't to say that this is entirely bland, but that it pulls in a lot of different elements. A little more red fruit and a whiff of peat and this would be exactly the most representative scotch that could be found. Still, it's quite sippable as is (after over a year of intense air). I expected to be raising this to a 16, but maybe not. I was looking in the 14 to 16 range here, so I feel OK settling on a 15. Glen Grant 26 is a 17 and it's clearly a much more mature and balanced spirit. That said, this is decently in line with the quality of Glenfarclas 28 Sherry Hogsheads Cask Strength (1990), which I just gave a 16. Both have a kind of assertiveness to them. Since I've raised the Glen Grant to a 17, I think I should raise this to a 16 to match the Glenfarclas. I'm not sure whether it's just the heavily oxygenated bottle that is earning the 16, but at least this means that letting some air get in isn't going to wreck this spirit.