Brand Focus The Dalmore
32 Whisky Magazine | Issue 167
one per cent of total port production.
Thus, the Colheita 1938 casks are
exceptionally old, rare and imbued with
ββ
can buy. “What these casks did was take
that spirit matured in American white
ǡ
of damson plums and morello cherries,”
adds Richard. “These are the kinds of
styles that come in when you use casks
Ǥβ
looking for.”
Next came maturation in The
Dalmore’s signature Matusalem
sherry butts, sourced from Jerez
winemaker Gonzalez Byass. Unlike
most of the sherry casks being used
by the industry today, which are newly
coopered American or European oak
casks seasoned for a minimum of
one year with (usually) young, dry
Oloroso sherries, the Matusalem casks
are actually sourced from the solera
βǤ
DzǡǤ
It’s a biblical reference to Matuselah,
ǡͻͻ
years,” explains Richard. “Matusalem
sherry is 75 per cent Palomino Fino,
25 per cent Pedro Ximenez grapes,
127g of sugar per litre, and minimum
͵ͲȂ
of that two or three-year-old sherry.”
According to Gonzalez Byass, “The
ͳͷ
and complexity. Then they are blended
and enter the Matusalem solera system
where the wine ages for an additional
15 years. The time aged as a blended
β
amount of time to integrate all the
βǣ
the Palomino Fino, the fruitiness and
sweetness from the Pedro Ximenez... as
well as the alcohol. As the wine is only
bottled to order, it will typically age
͵ͲǤdz
Containing some of Gonzalez
Byass’s most precious aged wines, the
Matusalem soleras are made up only of
Ȃ͵Ͳ
ͶͲǡ
Ǥǯ
worth noting that a number of bodegas
ʹͲͲǨ
age is due to sherry makers’ desire
for functionally inert casks that act as
of maturation character. This is because,
ǡǦ
is not a key indicator of maturity in
Jerez wines. Instead, sherry relies on
biological ageing, for styles such as Fino,
ǡ
Oloroso and Pedro Ximenez.
Before being introduced to a solera
system, a new American oak cask
β
Jerez wines in a manner similar to the
widely practiced process used for the
preparation of sherry casks for the
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