Scotch Whisky Review #274: Hepburn’s Choice K&L Exclusive “Cromarty’s Firth” (Dalmore) 13 Year (2007)

Distillery: Blended Malt, teaspooned Dalmore.

Bottler: Hunter Laing

Region: Highland

Age: 13 year. Distilled 2007. Bottled 2020.

ABV: 53.6%

Cask Type: Refill Hogshead

Price: Sample courtesy of /u/I_SAID_NO_GOLDFISH

Color:0.2, Pale straw.

---

Nose: Fairly straightforward. It’s very malt forward with a bit of lemon icing and a side of warm buttered corn bread.

Palate: At full strength, it’s easily drinkable but entirely forgettable. With some water, you get some icing sugar and lemon zest. A little bit of white tea comes through as well.

Finish: Medium in length. Lemon icing and iced tea are present here but the main note is cardboard.

---

Conclusion: I have had a very limited experiences with Dalmore but each of those encounters has left me extremely unimpressed. This teaspooned Dalmore is no exception. The dram is almost entirely forgettable with the exception of two notes. The warm buttered cornbread in the nose opened things up in such a promising manner that the rest of the whisky couldn’t deliver on. In the finish, the note of cardboard was rather vivid and not particularly pleasant (who would want to taste cardboard anyway?). To call this bottle unimpressive is quite the understatement. Is it drinkable? Sure, but only just.

Final Score: 60.

Scotch Whisky Review #274, Highland Review #52, Whisky Network Review #417

---

Scoring Legend:

• 96-100: The perfect dram, nectar of the gods.
• 90-95: Near perfect, there is something truly special about this whisky.
• 85-89: Amazing, will always try to keep a bottle of this in my collection (if feasible).
• 80-84: Very Good, maybe only one minor nitpick about the whisky keeping it here.
• 75-79: Good, quite enjoyable to drink.
• 70-74: Solid, wouldn’t go out of my way to get it.
• 60-69: Meh, still drinkable.
• Below 59: If you have a bottle of this, start cooking with it instead.