K&L Wines Exclusive Sherry Butt Selection
Distillery: Dalmore.
Region: Alness, Scotland, UK.
ABV: 56.9%.
Age: 10 Years.
Cask type: Sherry Butt.
Price: $75.
Color: 1.5 Auburn. Natural Color. No chill filtration.
Tasting Notes
Tasted neat in a Glencairn with 15+ minutes of rest. Dilution was added for the second half of the tasting with an additional rest of upwards of an hour. This review encompasses my initial impression to the final glass.
Nose: A unique and highly acidic nose, complemented with a woodland foraging backdrop. The sweeter sherry influence comes through as apple peels, orange zest, and a splash of lemon. Slightly nutty and buttery, like a pistachio croissant. What I initially attributed to baking spices, I feel more confident describing these notes as aromatic woods. Sapwood, conifer needles, and spruce trees. The nose starts to lean savory with woody elements of rosemary and mushrooms. Despite the extended rest and having the bottle open for months, there’s a harsher ethanol note. Those alcohols along with the forest fragrances bring a detergent-like odor. After you catch that lemon pledge note, it’s difficult to smell anything else.
Palate: The nose was giving me mixed signals but the palate solidifies this as a Christmas in July sort of dram. Warming baking spices with cinnamon and cardamom. Mulled wine or a hot toddy vibe. There’s a hint of sulphur from the sherry cask and a stale grape note. If you’ve ever had grappa, it is solidly a grape must note to me. It’s a simple profile, but I enjoy the flavors a fair bit.
Finish: More oaky and woodsy notes as expected. A relatively dry finish with cocoa powder bitterness, light tobacco, and leather notes. The cask doesn’t seem very active on the finish, mostly imparting the tannins more so than the sherry notes. Spiced apple cider with more of those warm baking spice flavors. Clean and fresh flavor profile that reminds me of a cotton spool and linens. A touch of water dials back the tannins and softens the ethanols. Slightly aligns the balance but also brings a touch of chili powder too.
Overall
This bottle starts out great and somehow disappoints the more you go back to it. Usually, it’s the other way around for me and I end up enjoying a bottle more as time goes by as it has time to breathe. I started to notice the flaws quickly with each dram and that realization hit me hard. I had higher hopes for this bottle given some fun and unique aromas from the nose, but ultimately let down with the flavors specifically on the finish.
This is a value bottle purchase for that Dalmore fan wanting an unadulterated example of the distillery on their shelf. To me, this is two-thirds of a Cigar malt with a heavier emphasis on the oak tannins. Had the cask been slightly more active, I think this would have been an excellent daily dram.
Final Score: 79
