Scotch Whisky Review #321: The Old Malt Cask Dailuaine 12 Year First Fill Sherry (2005)

Distillery: Dailuaine.

Bottler: Hunter Laing.

Region: Speyside.

Age: 12 Year. Distilled in 2005. Bottled in 2017.

ABV: 56.7%. Cask Strength.

Cask Type: First Fill Sherry Butt.

Price: Sample courtesy of /u/dustbunna. Originally $50.

Color: 1.3, Russet/Muscat.

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Nose: A nice warm, spiced orange is the main note here. Warm malt a bit of something gassy comes through as well.

Palate: Fairly warm at full strength, but not unpleasantly so. Sherry and spiced oranges are the main notes. It reminds me a lot about a Gran Marnier souffle served at a local steakhouse the wife and I like quite a bit. Adding water softens the spices a touch and introduces a hint of cream.

Finish: Fairly short. A bit of cream and spiced oranges.

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Conclusion: Dailuaine is a distillery I’ve been hoping to try for a while, but it isn’t one that is particularly easy to find here in the American Midwest. Thankfully, /u/dustbunna had some and was happy to share. I love spiced orange notes in a whisky and this has it in drove from start to finish. The hint of cream that comes through with water and also in the finish gives a bit of depth, but this is largely a one note wonder. It doesn’t bring a ton of complexity, but what it does bring is absolutely nailing the flavors it does have to near perfection. The gassy note in the nose is strange, but not off putting by any means. Would I buy a bottle? It would be hard to say no at $50 a bottle.

Final Score: 80.

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Scotch Whisky Review #321, Speyside Review #121, Whisky Network Review #466

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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.