Whisky - UK (2020-05)

Brand Focus The Dalmore

Issue 167 | Whisky Magazine 31

“People are going to say, ‘Isn’t it

going to be a bit woody?’ I say no,”

asserts Richard. “Not if you use the

right cask to get the right style and

ensure that when you hold it in the

mouth it goes down like silk.” He’s not

„Ž—ˆβ‹‰Ǥƒ˜‹‰•ƒ’Ž‡†–Š‡Ž‹“—‹†ǡ

…ƒ…‘β‹”–Šƒ–‹–Šƒ•”‡–ƒ‹‡†

‹…”‡†‹„Ž‡˜‹–ƒŽ‹–›ǡ‡˜‡ƒˆ–‡”‘˜‡”ŠƒŽˆƒ

century of maturation, and the distillery

character is remarkably pronounced.

Amongst notes of dark chocolate, cigar

–‘„ƒ……‘ǡ…Š‡””›•ƒ—…‡ǡ˜ƒ‹ŽŽƒ…”‡ƒ

cake, and plum wine, there’s also plenty

‘ˆ‘–ƒ„Ž‡‘”ƒ‰‡’”‡•‡”˜‡‘–‡•ǡ”‡ƒŽ

spirit presence and fabulous mouthfeel.

‹…Šƒ”†…‘’ƒ”‡•–Š‹•Žƒ––‡”βŽƒ˜‘—”–‘

‘old English marmalade’ and explains

that orange is in fact the cornerstone

of the Dalmore spirit style. What’s

particularly striking is the superb

‹–‡‰”ƒ–‹‘‘ˆ–Š‡‹βŽ—‡…‡ˆ”‘–Š‡

ˆ‘”–‹β‹‡†™‹‡…ƒ••ǡ™Š‹…Š…‘˜‡–‹‘ƒŽ

™‹•†‘™‘—Ž†•—‰‰‡•–…‘—Ž†Šƒ˜‡“—‹–‡

‡ƒ•‹Ž›‘˜‡”™Š‡Ž‡†–Š‹•˜‡‡”ƒ„Ž›ƒ‰‡†

whisky and dominated its character.

“The whisky has been brought

–‘‰‡–Š‡”β‹”•–‘ˆƒŽŽ‹‡”‹…ƒ™Š‹–‡

oak from the Ozark Mountain Range

‹‹••‘—”‹ǡ–Šƒ–ǯ•ͶͲǡͲͲͲ•“—ƒ”‡‹Ž‡•

of natural forest. When you talk about

‘—”„‘…ƒ••ǡ‹–‰‹˜‡•ƒ„ƒ•‡ˆ‘”–Š‡

whisky and allows it to settle down for

–Š”‡‡ǡˆ‘—”ǡβ‹˜‡ǡͳͲǡʹͲ›‡ƒ”•ǡdz‡š’Žƒ‹•

Richard. “But what we did with this

Dalmore, as it went down that runway

of maturation, we took it and decided

we wanted to make something really

•’‡…‹ƒŽǤ‘ǡ™‡—•‡†’‘”–‘ŽŠ‡‹–ƒͳͻ͵ ͅǡ

almost the war years (war wasn’t

†‡…Žƒ”‡†—–‹Ž͵‡’–‡„‡”ͳͻ͵ͻȌǡ

so there were restrictions on this

particular port Colheita. It’s full of body

ƒ†…Šƒ”ƒ…–‡”ǡƒ†‹–™ƒ•ƒ‰”‡ƒ–˜‹–ƒ‰‡

in its own right.”

In Portuguese, Colheita translates

Ž‹–‡”ƒŽŽ›ƒ•ǮŠƒ”˜‡•–ǯƒ†”‡ˆ‡”•–‘’‘”–

wine made in a single year, from a single

˜‹–ƒ‰‡‘ˆ‰”ƒ’‡•ǡ–Šƒ–Šƒ•„‡‡ƒ‰‡†

‹‘ƒˆ‘”ƒ‹‹—‘ˆ•‡˜‡›‡ƒ”•

ȋ‡••‡–‹ƒŽŽ›ƒ‹‰‹–ƒƒ™›Ȍ„‡ˆ‘”‡

bottling, though it is often matured

in cask for many decades. This differs

from Vintage port, which is made using

grapes from only one exceptional year

and is not matured for more than two

years in oak before being ‘declared’ a

Vintage. At this point it is bottled ‘on the

lees’ (that is to say, complete with dead

›‡ƒ•–ƒ†‰”ƒ’‡•‹•‡–…ǤȌƒ†•Š‘—Ž†

be bottle-aged for many years before

†”‹‹‰Ǥ‘ŽŠ‡‹–ƒ’‘”–ǡŠ‘™‡˜‡”ǡ‹•

˜‡”›•…ƒ”…‡ƒ†‹••ƒ‹†–‘ƒ‡—’‘Ž›

028 - 033 - Dalmore-WM 167 .indd 31 09 / 04 / 2020 09 : 35