
October 8, 2019

Little duos, today Dalwhinnie

It doesn’t look like any un-disgorged casks of Dalwhinnie still exist at the indies, only Diageo still seem to bottle Dalwhinnie under its name. Lovely place Dalwhinnie, and great chocolate and whisky pairings! By the way, some folks do not understand why we do not take prices into account when scoring a whisky. Well, first, a Ferrari isn’t any slower just because it’s expensive, or a Kia Picanto faster just because it’s cheap. And second, you’ll find this same bottle of Dalwhinnie 15 both at 32€ and at 50€ in the same country, our little France. Which price should we take into account, knowing that we’ll never spend more than 3 seconds on google just for that and that we have better things to do than calculate medians or averages? So let’s proceed… ;-)

Dalwhinnie 15 yo (43%, OB, +/-2018)

There are so few expressions that I feel obliged to taste the 15 almost every year. No chore mind you, I rather like it. Colour: straw. I’d swear it used to be darker. Nose: pears and peaches, with flying colours! It’s lost the cakes and the nuts that we used to find ten or twenty years ago, and got much fruitier and fresher, it seems, reminding me of unpeated Ardmore, which has got a lot of peaches as well. Hints of jelly fruits, and just a touch of hay and grist. Mouth: starts very well, more on apricot cake and stewed peaches indeed, with a wee touch of smoke and salt indeed. Some honey and gingerbread too, which is more typical, but it tends to become dry and grassy, almost bitter. It’s incredible how it changes within thirty seconds. Finish: medium, much closer to the wash, bread, oatcakes, and burnt caramel. Comments: I had thought it would have got fruitier and easier, but on the palate it’s still a potent malt whisky.
SGP:461 - 81 points.

Dalwhinnie ‘Game Of Thrones House Stark Winter’s Frost’ (43%, OB, 2018)

Nicknamed GOT NAS STARK in certain circles. Colour: straw. Nose: we’re extremely very close to the 15, with perhaps just a smidgen more cider and beer, and a little eucalyptus. Eucalyptus do not grow up there off the A9, do they? Perhaps a little more vanilla too? But we’re very close, although I doubt this is 15 (but it’s twice the price of the 15, go figure – I know, limited and royalties to HBO etc…) Mouth: same feelings, word for word, although this feels a tad younger indeed, but yeah, we are extremely close to the 15. Finish: ditto. Comments: I liked the 15 rather a little better, not only because it carries a proper age statement instead of fantasy television-level gibberish. Game of Thrones, remember?
SGP:461 - 80 points.
PS: I've heard a new Loch Dhu 'Game of Thrones CeCSlaughter of a Whole City with A Dragon' was in the pipe...

It was a little *yawn* today, was it not.

Check the index of all Dalwhinnie e've tasted so far