LeeEvolved
Dalwhinnie 15 Year
Single Malt — Highlands, Scotland
Reviewed
November 2, 2016 (edited January 18, 2020)
Dalwhinnie proudly declares themself as the highest of the Highland Distilleries and proclaim their single malts use the cleanest, unfiltered spring water from high up in the Grampian Mountains. They also claim a gentle, delicate smoked malt. It comes in at 86 proof and is lightly straw-colored and contains no added colors.
It's pretty light and airy in the tasting glass and doesn't produce much action on the nose. Some sweet vanilla and oak and even with a drop of water and a vigorous swirl doesn't add any other apparent dimensions. I've even let it sit 15-20 minutes while discussing the horrors of the upcoming presidential elections with my dad.
It's really a one-dimensional scotch, while being pretty smooth, all I get are the common vanilla and oak notes that wash away with a slight warming, yet medium length finish. I feel like I've had this so many times before. It's not bad, it's also nothing new.
While I can't recommend this one, I won't really bash it either and I'll simply say "your mileage may vary". It's definitely entry level juice at best and you can find many, many similar offerings for slightly less money. If you aren't into "ticking" off various whiskies like me you can take a pass on this one and look elsewhere. You aren't missing anything you haven't had before or can find without looking too hard. Cheers.
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12/5/17: a bit of an update as I am able to try this one again thanks to Scott, as part of our distillery trading group. Scott submitted this one as the official sample for Dalwhinnie. There isn’t much I’d change from my initial review. This is one of the most non-offending malts I’ve tried to date. It’s somewhat delicate with a heavy vanilla and oak presence with a short, slightly warming finish. A good spring time dram that won’t break the bank. Thanks again, Scott. It was pretty enjoyable and advanced my buzz quite perfectly. Cheers.
I thought I read it on the box. I may have mistaken it for a few other single malts I sampled at the time. Sorry if that info is incorrect. It wasn't intentional.
Interesting review! Where did you read that Dalwhinnie 15 has no artificial color added? As far as I know, it's Diageo's policy to add E150a to all expressions of their 'Classic Malts of Scotland' series...