Whisky - UK (2020-05)

30 Whisky Magazine | Issue 167

Brand Focus The Dalmore

own branch of railway line, is situated

in the centre of a ‘good barley-growing

district’, and is close to an abundant

•—’’Ž›‘ˆǮ⋐‡’‡ƒ–•ǯȂ–Š‡Žƒ––‡”‘ˆ

which he explicitly states are used

in the maltings kiln, which leads us

to assume that Dalmore was at least

somewhat peaty in character at this

point. Barnard records the annual

production capacity as 80,000 imperial

gallons, which is just shy of 364,000

litres. By 1895, the height of the late

Victorian distillery-building boom, this

had increased to an impressive 271,694

gallons, or 1.23 million litres, with 32

employees working at the distillery.

By this time there were very

well-established links between the

sherry and Scotch whisky industries,

with the latter widely using sherry

shipping butts for whisky maturation.

Interestingly, there was a Mackenzie &

Co. sherry business (linked to the port

wine company Mackenzie & Driscoll

of Oporto), though it’s unclear if that

particular Mackenzie was a relation.

Regardless, by the time the Mackenzie

Bros were doing business at Dalmore

there were certainly plenty of fellow

Scots (one thinks of Sandeman & Co.

and Gordon & Co.) running sherry

businesses out of Jerez, Scots from

whom they could source an abundant

supply of excellent casks. “When

Andrew Mackenzie started doing

sherry cask curation, because the

Mackenzie family had been down to

Jerez, he noticed the difference and the

‹βŽ—‡…‡ˆ”‘–Š‡™‘‘†ǡdz•ƒ›•‹…Šƒ”†Ǥ

“So this sort of cask curation that went

on during the Mackenzie era has been

instilled inside of me and it’s what I’ve

„‡‡…ƒ””›‹‰‘–‘†ƒ›Ǥdz

In the 1880s, the brothers decided

to push the brand further in London

and it seems that they made tweaks

to Dalmore’s spirit style at this time in

order to better appeal to the Southern

palate. It has been speculated that

this could mean they reduced the

’‡ƒ–‹βŽ—‡…‡‘”’‡”Šƒ’•–Šƒ––Š‡›

simply changed the way the stills were

run. Whatever they did, it seemed to

go down well, as a letter from their

Glasgow agent attests: ‘We are very

much impressed with its quality and

think it should hold its own against the

best Highland whiskies, it comes out

•‘”‹…Šǡ•™‡‡–ǡϔ‹‡ϔŽƒ˜‘—”‡†ǡƒ†‹•

altogether we think a powerful whisky.’

This good reputation is backed up

by price lists of the mid 1880s which

show Dalmore new spirit being sold

to the trade in cask for a respectable

4s 1d (four shillings, one pence) per

gallon. For context, the same list has the

Opening pages and

this page:

The Dalmore 60

Years Old 180th

Anniversary edition.

Facing page,

clockwise from top:

Casks maturing

in Dalmore’s

warehouse; Dalmore

Distillery; Richard

presenting a

masterclass; Richard

checking maturing

whiskies at Dalmore.

highest price for single malt spirit at

4s 10d for Glenlivet, Macallan for two

pence less than Dalmore at 3s 11d, and

Campbeltown’s distillers collectively

bringing up the rear at 2s 9d to 3s 1d

(Ridley & Co.’s Monthly Wine and Spirit

Trade Circular, 12 March, 1885).

Through various ups and downs,

the brothers’ descendants retained

ownership of the business until May

1960, when the company known as

Mackenzie Bros, Dalmore Ltd was

merged with one of its best customers:

the blender Whyte & Mackay. At

this time under the stewardship of

Colonel Hector Andrew Courtney ‘HAC’

Mackenzie, the distillery became part

of a new company called Dalmore,

Whyte & Mackay Ltd. After weathering

various mergers, sales and buy-outs,

the distillery remains under Whyte &

Mackay’s ownership to this day, albeit

as a subsidiary of the Philippine drinks

conglomerate Emperador Distillers Inc.

Although no longer family owned,

‘HAC’ Mackenzie remained with the

company and was still involved when

‹…Šƒ”†ƒ–‡”•‘β‹”•–˜‹•‹–‡†–Š‡

distillery in 1972. To release a whisky at

60 years of age, which is a tangible link

to the family that brought Dalmore to

where it is today, certainly seems a most

appropriate way to mark an impressive

18 decades of the distillery’s operation.

However, keen to emphasise that

this is a year of celebration and not

‡”‡Ž›ƒβŽƒ•Š‹–Š‡’ƒǡŠ‡ƒŽ‘”‡

announced their next anniversary-

year release in February at an intimate

event at the illustrious Hotel Café

Royal in London. Housed in a black

sycamore-wood box that is lined with

quilted leather, The Dalmore 51 Years

Old comes bottled in a crystal decanter

with a crystal stopper and the brand’s

iconic 12-point ‘Royal’ stag crafted in

sterling silver. This 51-year-old whisky

™ƒ•ƒ–—”‡†‹‹–‹ƒŽŽ›‹”‡β‹ŽŽ‡”‹…ƒ

white oak ex Bourbon barrels, before

„‡‹‰⋐‹•Š‡†‹ƒ…‘„‹ƒ–‹‘‘ˆͳͻ͵ ͅ

˜‹–ƒ‰‡‘ŽŠ‡‹–ƒ’‘”–’‹’‡•ǡβ‹”•–Ǧβ‹ŽŽ

Bourbon barrels; and The Dalmore’s

signature Matusalem sherry casks from

Gonzalez Byass.

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