Dalmore Valour

Valour is a travel retail exclusive from Dalmore. I bought this bottle after passing on it several times while shopping at my favorite duty free shop. I had heard good things about it and figured what the hell, I’ll give it a try. $80 later I walked out with the 1L bottle that came in a deep purple box. Let’s see what I got myself into. On the box it states the following: “Matured in American white oak and Oloroso sherry wood. Finessed in port pipes from the Douro region in Portugal.” I’m not sure what “finessed in port pipes” means, but is sounds like they poured a few gallons into a port cask, sloshed it around a couple times and then poured it back out. Anyways, I digress. Bottled at 40% ABV and is chill filtered and has enough colorant added to make it a dark copper typical of most Dalmores. The nose is as strong as you would expect for 40% ABV. Oak and cardboard with moderate wood spices. Nutmeg, cinnamon and allspice. Chocolate, light toffee, vanilla, maple and light sherry. Possibly some port notes, though it’s hard to differentiate the port from the sherry in this case. Mixed berries, plums, orange oil and faint candied pineapple. Walnuts and almonds. A hint of furniture polish and a very light citrus. Some complexity to it, but everything is subtle and nuanced. Everything except for the oak, that’s always in the foreground. The palate, like the nose, is mainly oak. Dark chocolate and cinnamon, toffee and sherry. Licorice, tangerines/oranges and and dates. Notes of cardboard and sawdust. The oak takes over again with some tannic bitterness. A decent presence for 40%. Medium-light bodied, thin and dry. The finish is medium length, oak, tannins, light sherry and dry. This is one of the bottles I brought with me to DC for Whiskyfest and @LeeEvolved, @Telex and I pretty much were in agreement that this was the weakest offering of the night during our hotel room tasting. I know some people liked this expression and consider it a worthy addition to the Dalmore lineup, but I find it to be another one of Richard Paterson’s over engineered attempts at pleasing everyone. At times the nose shows promise, but then the oak overtakes everything. The palate is more is the same. Valour is further evidence that you need to pay significantly more for a Dalmore with real depth and personality, like the 18 and the Cigar Malt. While this is a good single malt, it is far from great and that is why it gets a 3.5. Cheers

We’re just over a week removed from the Whiskyfest I attended and this malt was a pre-fest sample brought down from Detroit by my friend @Generously_Paul: travel retail exclusive, Dalmore Valour. We mixed this sample in with several heavy-hitters: Black Arts 5, Laphroaig Cairdeas Amontillado, Macallan Fine Oak 21, Ardbeg 23, etc. To say it got lost in the mix is an understatement, but Paul was gracious enough to send me home with an extra pour so I can let this one speak for itself- minus all the competition. What follows is that review: Like I said, Dalmore Valour is a TRE. It’s bottled at the industry minimum of 40% ABV, has color added to make it a beautiful (albeit fake), sunset amber. It’s also chill filtered, oily and makes numerous thin legs and large water droplets in the Glencairn. The snob in me wishes Dalmore would quit all the non-sense around coloring and filtration, but Paterson Knows Best... The nose was immediately fresh cut oak and pine, slight sherry cask sweetness and an abundance of simple sugars. All the candy and fruit notes were much lighter than the oak, though. The palate follows suit with lots of soft sherry, vanilla with just a hint of bitterness on the tail end of the sip. Thank to the low ABV there’s a very watery feel to the whole sip and that shortens the flavor profile way more than it should. The finish is short/medium short with an overly dry sensation and a thin mouthfeel. Again, probably due mostly to the short finessing time spent in the port and oloroso casks along with a heavy dose of water to bring everything down to 40%. I’m not sure what Paul had to ultimately pay for this bottle, but I’m going to declare it not worth whatever the amount. This is one of the most uninspired Dalmore’s I’ve had to this point. Sadly, I seem to always end up giving Dalmore some beef over the extra harshness on the palate on most of their drams- well, this one lacks that bite and it would be welcomed with open arms here. This is a very uneventful, almost flavorless experience. I think we need to stick with the age statement stuff from Richard Paterson’s crew. Definitely skip this one- 3 mediocre stars is all I can muster. Cheers.

I had my first whisky tasting party yesterday to celebrate World Whisky Day, and i had some fine drams, one of those was this beauty, The Dalmore Valour. As the other Dalmore i had, (12yo), this one is Fantastic. Bottled at 40%abv, with a marvelous Mahogany Color. On the nose is so perfect, with the Dalmore traditional profile aroma, full of blackberry marmalade, cherries, christmas cake, vanilla, plum, toasted bread, tobacco and hazelnut notes. On the Palate is also great, offering those Dalmore trademark flavors: Oak, cough syrup, maple honey, bread and vanilla cake. Full bodied, the finish is medium with sweet notes. Wonderful Whisky, 89 out of 100, very recommended, suitable for a Family party or special occasion.

★★★★ Encore un bon produit de Dalmore Acheté par mon ami Pierre alors qu'il était en Europe, nous avons le privilège de pouvoir déguster ce whisky non disponible au Canada. Nous entrons dans mon monde fruité et épicé comme on les aime. La présence subtile du porto donne une touche très agréable à ce produit exclusif. Bien fait!

Sweet and fruity up front, a little sherry and a lot of dark fruits (plum & cherry). There’s citrus all the way through, but it’s most noticeable in the aftertaste. It doesn’t have a long finish, but what there is is quite sharp.

Meh, and that's about it, a rather dull whisky. What is present reminds you of working in a bad office atmosphere, not only do the flavours refuse to work together, they seem to actively interfere with one another.