A cask strength Dalmore, with no Caramel added, no fancy decanter? Can you believe it? Well, yes sir, and thank god for Indie bottlers such as Single Cask Nation (I know there are others) for letting us try Dalmore as it should be, NCF, CS, No coloring. Hallelujah.
This cask bottling, distilled in June 2000, spent twelve years aging in first a refill bourbon hogshead before maturing for an additional ten months in a Pedro Ximenez sherry hogshead. It was bottled at cask strength in April of 2013 at 46.1% ABV which is surprisingly at natural cask strength! Cask #6951 yielded only 238 bottles. This is now sold out, and you can not get it anywhere else (SCN is a membership club), if you can buy a bottle from a mate, you’re in for some fun.
Single Cask Nation Dalmore Cask # 6951 , 46.1 , (sold out)
nose: Sweet, with wine gums, dates, some figs, quite creamy with a lot of sugar and golden syrup. Very sweet and hedonistic . this one spent only 10 months in a sherry cask, but boy does it taste sherried!
Palate:Thick and oily, quite a nice mouthfeel to it, viscous and again very sweet, after an initial pepper attack. Red fruit jam, and prune syrup with a dash of spice and macerated cherries; also a hint of sweet oak as the sweet flavor subside while ending on chocolate fudge.
Finish: Quite long and soothing, with date spread, date honey (Silan), spice and glazed cherries.
Bottom line:
A very rich and hedonistic dram (maybe too rich at times). would go well with desert, a pie, cake or other pastry dishes.
Score: 88/100
Cheers for the official sample, guys!