The Dalmore 12 Year Old

To me The Dalmore sits in a bit of a strange place in the Whisky world where newbies (like myself) look up to it, collectors flip the bottles and Whisky enthusiasts look down on them. The only other bottle that fits into this category could be Macallan which is slightly more well know due to appearances in film and television.

The cheapest entry into The Dalmore Principal collection, the 12 Year Old bottle proudly sits on The Dalmore website for a near eye watering £52. This is not budget by any means but I will proudly state that this was the first “fancy” bottle I owned.

I was very fortunate at the start of the first UK Lockdown to have tried a large section of The Dalmore range on an online tasting event with the great Richard Paterson and is a Whisky experience I will never forget.

Experience

The branding is very representative of their Whisky. The glued-on 12 pointed Royal stag which relates back to their heritage at first glance looks stunning. That is until it slowly unpeels revealing that it is only thin bendy metal.

At the very start of my Whisky journey, I stumbled along some of the many videos of Richard Paterson in his dram swilling glory which really sucked me into The Dalmore. To me, Richard Paterson is The Dalmore. He seems to carry this company on his shoulders with his old school charm which is starting to verge on becoming a bit dated. It will be interesting to see how his stepping back from Whyte & Mackay and moving onto Wolfcraig Distillery ripples through both brands.

It is well known that The Dalmore is chill-filtered and has added caramel colouring to give the dark nectar colour they are famous for. For a brand that exports as much as The Dalmore does, consistency is a key part of their appeal and the honesty in how they don’t hide the facts about their product shows it doesn’t matter to their clients.

One element you will find going through their website and marketing is that this certainly is THE Dalmore.

Nose

On the nose, you are instantly hit with this lovely fruit and nut dark chocolate, with orange zest sprinkled around for good measure. The aroma is thick and could be easily mistaken for a higher abv. Such a sweet inviting smell, it is how you imagine a Christmas evening by the fire to feel.

Taste

Again for the bare minimum 40%, it has a great jam-like thickness. An orchestra of flavours with sherry, marmalade, plums and raisins all swishing around, warming your soul. There is a tiny hint of spice buried in there but no ethanal notes at all. The finish is medium to long in length as the taste of fleshy fruit and cinnamon fade away. 

Value for Money

If I was to recommend any bottles from The Dalmore, I would recommend The Dalmore 12. I will be adding in reviews for the other expressions however this to me is the best value for money with the great Dalmore experience.

From the get-go, it is important to state that this is not a budget bottle. However, it is worth shopping around for as occasionally pops up on flash sales on places like Amazon and The Whisky Shop. The best price I have seen is £35 which included 2 branded glasses.