Whiskey Talk: The Dalmore’s New Single Malt

To understand The Dalmore’s new single malt, we have to talk about The Dalmore’s story. The legends say that in the year 1263 Colin of Kintail, Chief of the Clan Mackenzie, saved King Alexander III of Scotland from a rampaging wild stag. To reward this noble act, Alexander gifted Colin of Clan Mackenzie with the right to use the 12-pointed Royal Stag sigil on his family coat of arms. Six hundred and four years later, Clam Mackenzie’s descendants would become the masters of The Dalmore distillery and the symbol of the stag marks their brand of single malt Scottish whisky to this day.

The Dalmore’s Sherry Cask Single Malt

The Dalmore is a highlands distillery, known for crafting a luxury single-malt whisky, what makes The Dalmore unique is that the single malt is produced in six different woods: Kentucky bourbon casks, Cabernet Sauvignon barriques, Madiera drums, Oloroso Sherry Butts from Jerez, Marsala Barrels from Sicily, and Port Pipes from The Douro. Under the watchful eyes of master distiller Richard Paterson, The Dalmore perfects a craft they’ve honed for 154-years.

According to Spy.com, “The core 12-year-old expression is aged in bourbon barrels and finished in sherry casks. The new Sherry Cask Select is sort of an augmentation of this whisky, with what the brand says has twice the influence of sherry cask maturation than the original 12-year-old. Paterson worked directly with three partners in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain (Tevasa, Vasyma, Paez) to create Oloroso and Pedro Ximénez sherries with which to season their custom-built casks. This allowed for three distinct barrel types to work with, each meant to provide a different flavor profile to the whisky during the maturation process. The whisky was aged for ten years in bourbon barrels, then finished for up to three years in these casks.”

The Dalmore reports that their 12 Year Old Sherry Cask Select carries the aroma of caramelized orange, ginger, and sultanas, laced with honey, on the palate, it presents dark chocolate and crushed almonds with a dusting of cinnamon with finishing notes of mangos, panna cotta, and lemon sponge cake. It sounds complex and delicious and at $80 a bottle, it is a high-end entry-level to the world of luxury whisky, and a worthy part of any collection.