Dalwhinnie Winter’s Gold 43% vs Dalwhinnie Lizzie’s Dram 48% vs Dalwhinnie distillery only 2008 / 2019 American Oak Single Cask 63.4% vs Dalwhinnie distillery only 2008 / 2019 Bodega Sherry Single Cask 63%
It was unseasonably warm in Scotland last week, and the highest, coldest distillery in Scotland was rather baking on a Thursday afternoon.
Dalwhinnie Winter’s Gold 43%
Exactly what winter’s gold is is unclear. Now fool’s gold I know… So: Sweet red jam, honey, burnt toast, raspberries, More weighty on the tongue than the nose suggests. Hot butter. Gristly, dusty and drily spicy. Pretty straightforward. 82 pts
Dalwhinnie Lizzie’s Dram 48% ~ distillery special to commemorate the retirement of Liz Stewart
Not a huge whisky but comparatively muscular after winter’s gold, true highland spirit here. Gristly and bristling with matches and burnt pans, yet also honeyed and autumnal with golden hues of dusty fields in harvest (what is it with these dusty cereals) and ripe yellow fruit. Warm butter and linseed oil. Golden ginger cake, pepper sauce and hot cloves. Good weight with a lingering almost-sulphurous buzz that lends so much to the mouthfeel here. Seems more Benrinnes than Dalwhinnie really. Unfortunately rather short and fizzles out after a good start. 84 pts
Dalwhinnie distillery only 2008 / 2019 American Oak Single Cask 63.4% ~ drawn from the cask
This is only available to visitors, it isn’t sold as a bottle (wasted opportunity if you ask me) and they wouldn’t even allow me to buy a second pour of it! This is a simple young one full of intense distillery character. Honey, orchard fruit, malty (of course), more than a hint of sulphurous prickle (incidentally a marker for Dalwhinnie), shiso flakes, churned butter, sweet caramel, roasted green capsicums, dusty rye. 85 pts, and well on the way to tastydom.
Dalwhinnie distillery only 2008 / 2019 Bodega Sherry Single Cask 63% ~ drawn from the cask
Refill evidently. An extra layer of damp earth, soaked oak, gloomy mushrooms, dark spice, black peppercorns, and stripped bark lie over the whisky. Not particularly sweet nor rich. Otherwise quite similar if a little smothered by the darkness of the sherry, with the honey, malt and fruity esters showing up late on the tongue, along with the fizzle of fireworks in the cold air. The tannins getting heavier now, with an odd sulphurous slant. I’ve always thought Dalwhinnie and sherry are not an easy match but others may disagree. 83 pts
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