Soba45
Dailuaine 16 Year Flora & Fauna
Single Malt — Speyside, Scotland
Reviewed
July 5, 2018 (edited December 3, 2019)
Wooho I'm done (for now). Yes that's right folks, four score and roughly 1 year or whenever ago I embarked on my virtual whiskey pilgrimage. Inspired by such pioneers as PBM, LeeE, GP, Telex, Scott E and others who were on a collective quest to sample all of Scotlands active distilleries I ploughed my way through 100+ open and closed distilleries (sometimes repeatedly). I took the Ben Saunders route vs the team Amundsen effort and unlike Ben made it! (Ok I'm not for one moment comparing my experience to crossing the entire Antarctic solo but hey I love to stretch a good analogy :-)). Now technically I constrained myself to those open in the last millennium as most of the young whippersnappers open in the last decade and a bit you can't get and yes Speyside I need to tick you off one day as I thought you weren't even a distillery (seriously who names a distillery after the region?) but I'm planting my flag claiming the glory and one day (later this year) I'll pick up my walking stick again and pick off the few new available distilleries + Speyside in a single night. Anyhow I think it's fitting I end on a Flora & Fauna offering as it sums up the spirit of my adventure well. A simple standard offering from a distillery...the type I mostly tried to aim for. Lovely biscuity caramel nose and palate, cherry (in a good way), sherry and much more going on. A bit thin on the finish but still at least a 4 maybe 4.25 given its perfect balance and one of the top F&F offerings out there.
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@LeeEvolved @PBMichiganWolverine Yeah we definitely didn't take the direct route that's for sure, and it was interesting when our paths crossed over even for random offerings and yes a lot of average crap out there, however also surprises in some areas. I'll be following in your footsteps again in terms of any new and interesting offerings from wider a field you and others recommend and also going deeper on favorite distilleries. Sadly my liver won't get much of a rest as I still have 80 or so samples to get through and a similar number on my MoM wishlist plus all the other bottles in my collection I'm very slowly opening. #liverfailureahead #1stworldproblems :-)
@Rick_M @The_Rev @LeeEvolved Cheers guys was an interesting ride :-). Enjoyed all of your great reviews
Cheers, and a good dram to end on!
@Soba45 - well done, mate!
@LeeEvolved @Soba45 I think the “bonus” offerings, which ranged anywhere from craft American, mezcal, and non-Scottish whiskey is what made it longer. But—-if it weren’t for those bonus ones, I really think our journey would’ve stopped sooner.
Well done, Soba! We should cross the finish line by the end of this month and then a well deserved rest for my liver is long overdue. There were quite a few mediocre offerings, a few duds but a few excellent malts along the way. I plan to make a short list of the distilleries I plan to “investigate” a little deeper, too. Cheers and well done!
Cheers thanks for the inspiration! Ah I didn't realise that, I thought you lot were onto other regions now. Your posts of new American whiskey companies have been inspiring me to add as many as I can to my next order. That and Mezcal will be a couple of the themes....be an interesting journey :-)
@Soba45 nice! You made it to the finish line before we five did!