The last of the new stuff, the last of the Dalmore Vial Sampler. The Dalmore 18y.
Briefly, since we’ve been here before, this appears to be of the same origin as the 12y and the 15y, with different finishes for different lengths. Once again into super fancy sherry butts, which is not the name of the guidance counselor at your high school no matter how much it sounds like it.
With the 18y we get similar results to previous age-of-majority whiskies – more years doesn’t mean more better. Excellent elements of the 12y and 15y are gone, while unpleasant tastes push forward. The “maturity” ends up drowning out the character. Here’s what we thought:
nose
Dan – slight sulphur, musty wood, propane, dark chocolate
Simon – same ideas but subtler, chocolate, wood
Goran – very bright, cherry, mellower tones than 15 though, orange
neat
Dan – bitter, spicy, sulphur burnt sugar
Simon – golden treacle, slight woodfire
Goran – surprisingly vibrant first taste, woody, citrus
finish
Dan – musky, medium, astringent
Simon – chest & mouth warm, medium tingle
Goran – medium, rounds off but still citrus
splash
Dan – uh, no
Simon – too simple, nothing there
Goran – n/a
free association
Dan – like licking sir john a macdonald
Simon – aging rock star
Goran – n/a
overall
Dan – 5.6/10
Simon – 6/10
Goran – 6/10
The Dalmore 18y – 43% 50ml – $ – Highlands
Try it? No. Buy it? No.
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