LeeEvolved
Dallas Dhu 10 (Gordon & MacPhail)
Single Malt — Highland, Scotland
Reviewed
July 21, 2018
It’s time for a special malt that I included for our distillery sampling team: Dallas Dhu 10. The Dallas Dhu distillery originally opened in 1899 and has been closed since 1983. The actual distillery is still in place, with working equipment, and functions as a museum. They have one operating still that produces about 5,600 liters annually- which I believe only supplies whisky for museum visitors to sample after their tour. Dallas Dhu translates as “black water valley”. This independent bottle was offered by Gordon & MacPhail and due to scarcity cost an astounding $290. It’s definitely not worth that price, but you’ve gotta pay for a piece of history like this, especially these days.
Onto the tasting notes: visually it’s dark gold in the Glencairn. Thin, quick-running legs leave behind large droplets of water behind on the rim. This is primarily due to it being bottled at the bare minimum 40% ABV.
The nose is heavy on the butterscotch. It’s very candied and sweet with notes of fresh oak and youthful spirit- which is kind of amazing considered this has remained in this twist-off capped bottle that had to be filled back in the early 1990’s. There’s some faint pepper notes if you let it sit out awhile.
The palate is very weak- more butterscotch and sweet vanilla. It’s very, very watery with absolutely no heat. The mouthfeel is oily and candied. The finish is also weak and somewhat short, but oily. The candy notes linger on and, while it doesn’t ruin anything, it also doesn’t allow any complexity. But, then again, who expects complexity from a 10 year old, ghosted distillery. If it had more of a profile to draw from it probably wouldn’t have closed in the first place. Lol.
Overall, it’s cool to taste a piece of history, but this isn’t a dram to seek out or pay large sums of money for. I was glad I could add it for the group as we wind down our tasting tour, though. 2.5 stars for that. Enjoy this one fellas, we’ll never get it again. Cheers.
290.0
USD
per
Bottle
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@PBMichiganWolverine Yeah and I think it gets to the point with the rare stuff the really good examples are prohibitively priced and so most are tasting the lower hanging poorer quality barely affordable stuff :-). I was talking to the owner of the whiskey bar who had had bottles of Broras and he reckoned the same thing. The lower priced stuff in the ranges were rubbish, and only sold cos of the name. One bottle he pulled off the shelf soon after opening cos he couldn't in good conscience sell it
@Generously_Paul yeah...but they reopened. These others stayed closed.
@PBMichiganWolverine, don’t forget that both Ardbeg and GlenDronach were both mothballed and both produce top quality whiskies.
@Soba45 I’m finding most of these closed distilleries are closed for a reason. They’d still be open if they were any good. I think the only exceptions might be Hanyu, Brora, and Karuizawa. Rest were just not good enough
@Soba45 if this is bottle where they are pulling the sample then you should definitely pass. Others may be better, but it’s a gamble.
Wow @LeeEvolved .. Well, since I like the sweet and sulfuric drams, maybe this one will be at least a 3 for me.. I will hope =)
@Generously_Paul @LeeEvolved Ah that is one on my list. It's getting hard with these discontinued distilleries as even samples are very expensive and often they just don't pan out. There are really only a handful left that are still within my reach I might try but unfortunately most of your guys reviews have been average e.g. this, Pittyvaich. I'm in two minds about how much effort and $ I expend...
Currently sipping this one. Very odd stuff. Love the nose but hate the palate. Not looking good for the score