Dalmore 12 Year

I started my whisky journey 6 years ago. This is my whisky review no. 1083, but the first one i ever did, and the first single malt i ever had was a Dalmore 12yo. Obviously, this magic dram was the version from nowadays. But, back in the 1970s-1980s, an older version existed. And this black labeled, long bottle Dalmore 12yo, is that older expression. Let's see if this forgotten jewel has changed in the past 50 years. Bottled at 43%abv, this is the first difference from the expression you can find in a retail store now, which is bottled at only 40%. On the nose, it is quite complex and different. Amazing orange zest notes, fresh gooseberries. Everything citric and quite beautiful. It has the style of most 1970s whiskies, with thick citrus flavors, i have had a couple like that. Dry cherries have rised after 5 minutes nosing it. Beautiful aroma of fruit salad, kiwi and ripe fruits. After a couple of sips, the aroma changed into lemon, airfreshener. Its like every fruit in the world dipped in marmalade. Fantastic. The palate starts with yellow apples mixed with orange marmalade. Incredibly good, salt and sawdust kicks in after 5 seconds. A second sip gave me canned macerated pineapples for cocktails. Salty and dusty. Beautiful. Aftertaste is a little oaky; Sawdust, hay and clove. Herbal rounded finish. It is quite diferent to nowadays Dalmore. It is dry, with tobacco leaf notes; very cowboy-ish. Overall, this was an incredible experience. It goes for around 450 dollars in the seconday market, which might seem a lot for a 12yo whisky, but the truth here is that you are paying for a relic that existed 50 years ago when the world looked very different from now, and not only the world has changed, the Dalmore has changed as well. I believe this is a more complex dram than the one from our century. Both are very good, and i can honestly say that Dalmore is one of my favorite distilleries. My score for this one is 95 over 100.

Dalmore has some of my favorite whiskys. The 12yr is an easy to drink dram that will delight any first time drinker. Its a 40% ABV that might be low for many of us, but still flavorful. On the nose is very citrusy, sicilian lemon and orange at first. Then we get some honey, sugar notes and a hint of cereal. On the palate its like a good orange peel preserve or a candied crystalized orange. The mix of honey and orange flavors is like eating a orange dessert. Great dram! Cheers!

There is definitely some chocolate in the first taste and it has a nice but short lived bite to it. The sherry and bourbon flavor definitely comes thru. There is a little smoke and peat but not a lot. While it is decent it isnt one i will go out of my way to buy again. I paid about 80 bucks for the bottle and in my opinion that is about twice as much as it should be.

The aroma is both sherry and bourbon...odd but cool. Consistency is watery but that doesn't detract from the experience, just an observation. For me, I can taste the bourbon because I'm not a fan, but ya know, it doesn't dominate, so I find this still a good sipper. The sherry is there to lend a gentle sweetness. Rating based on neat sipping.

Soft, sweet and smooth. The three S's which make any whisky a great one. I havent tried it without ice as my wife bought it me for a wedding gift along with a big ice ball maker, and thank goodness she did! I'm converted to drinking whiskey on the rocks from now on. 5 stars! Only drinking on special occasions!

Big, rich sweetness on the nose: caramel forward with vanilla, honey, and cinnamon. Palate adds a little dark fruit; velvet influence of the sherry quite pronounced. Adding water curiously thins it out - only a few drops needed if at all. Short and mild finish. Upfront: what you smell is what you get.