Picked this up for a steal from a closing store and I’ve been savoring every last drop. This is Dalwhinnie through and through — a winter warmer — and yet its character is tannic, tart, and tropical. I get the anticipated notes on the nose: dried heather, lemon peel, and a beeswax candle that’s just been snuffed out. But I also smell dried mango and big notes of tamarind, which is so unexpected and special. On the palate, the body is carried by notes of black tea and summer harvest honey. The top notes add more tropical flavors, like banana tarte tatin and dried coconut. I also get a medicinal tulsi note, which bespeaks the bourbon influence. The mouthfeel is tannic, expansive, and somewhat bitter, tinged with the brightness of the fruity notes. The finish is a flare of salted mango and dark honey, with a deep and sweet barley note. It’s warming, mouthwatering, and piquant all at once. This single malt manages to be in two places at once, one foot in a daring dream and one foot in the waking world, and it manages it so well I can’t be sure which is which.