The Scotch Whisky Search Continues . . .

I am a man on a mission.  Lately, all the scotch and other whiskies of the world I have been reviewing have been quite unexceptional, middle-of-the-road, take-no-chances, snore fest, white Oxford button-down shirt kinda stuff.

I need some tire screeching, Ferrari engine red-lining, acid flashback memories of a shouting match with an ex-girlfriend in a French, white table cloth, restaurant in front of all those nice diners in their hushed conversations, Brooks Brothers navy blazers and Prada dresses, while I wear a fine barolo tossed in my face by some screaming harpie that I thought was normal and turned out to be about as well adjusted as Sybil! (all the while I am thinking we're gonna make up and in her fury she is nevertheless beautiful!)  Yeah, gimme some of that excitement and tension!  What scotch can deliver that kind of roller coaster ride of the palate?  I need some plaid jacket style whisky with a wild paisley lining!

I know what you are thinking.  Highland Park 12, 18, Macallan 18, Hibiki 17 and a few others deliver that excitement.  Yes, I agree!  Wholeheartedly, but I want a new discovery.  Those aforementioned nobility of the spirits world are obvious.  I need to find a single malt or other world whisky that is not so obvious.  Kinda like my discovery of Jim Beam Black.  I still marvel at how damn good that bourbon is even though it costs $19 a bottle!

I am not looking for a bargain.  I figure that one day I will be dead a long time, so damn the cost!  I am desperate for an explosion of flavour that leaves me speechless, stuttering and totally stunned.  So, to that end I will attend this year's New Brunswick Spirits Festival held in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada.  There will be a 'master class' where they pour twelve of the most expensive whiskies featured at the festival.  By the way, I am not affiliated with the festival in anyway.  I just find this festival and others as a good starting point in this most difficult of quests that I now undertake.  The festival main event takes place on Friday, November 18th, and between now and then I will continue to review whiskies, as I search for the truly good amongst the bad and the ugly.



Cheers!


Jason Debly


Copyright © Jason Debly, 2009-2011. All rights reserved. Any and all use is prohibited without permission except for images above taken from the film "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" as they belong to Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment.    I do not own any rights to this film which is posted for the purposes of nostalgia and entertainment.

Review: The Dalmore 12 year old Single Malt Scotch Whisky

When I was recently in Vancouver, I picked up a bottle of The Dalmore 12 years, which is the subject of today's post.  I also purchased a bottle of Chivas Regal 12 judging by the above photo, but that is not the subject of discussion today.  I just happen to like the photo, and Chivas just happens to be in it.  Confused?  That's ok.  It is a state of being for me.  Bear with me.

How's this pic?  The Chivas bottle is gone.  Is that better?  Hope so.  Ok, let's deal with the matter at hand.  Is The Dalmore a worthwhile purchase?

Nose (undiluted)
Damp leaves, moist earth, like a walk through the forest after rainfall.

Palate (undiluted)
Initially, a sweet taste of Oloroso sherry is delivered.  Taste of orange zest and pomegranate soon follow.  While this single malt is sweet, it still manages to have a slightly dry, oak laden, crisp mouth feel by the time of the finish.

Finish (undiluted)
Drying thinly across the palate with a nice flourish of spice.  Gentle warmth, as it disappears from the palate leaving in its wake: subtle Virginia tobacco smoke and dusty oak.

General Impressions
When I first opened the bottle of The Dalmore, poured a measure and took a sip, I was blown away by the crisp flavors of sherry and dark fruit held in perfect balance between the opposing forces of sweet and dry.  In the following days, when I would revisit the bottle, it had settled down a little and was less complex.  The initial crispness upon the palate had dissipated a great deal.  So, initially the malt was damn incredible, but settled after exposure to the air to a much more gentle, easy-going sherry dominated highland malt.  It is still a nice malt, just not leaving me God-smacked (probably not a real word, but oh whatever) like that first tasting.

Criticisms?
This single malt tastes a bit 'thin.'  Not a heavy or full bodied mouth feel by any means.  When I talk to fellow scotch nuts, this is the common complaint I hear repeatedly.  The lightness of this spirit somehow leaves these guys wanting more and dissatisfied on some level.

For me, mid-palate and on the finish it is a tad overly oak flavored.  This is a minor criticism though.  Over all, the malt is fairly well put together.

Price Point
The price of this scotch is reasonable.  Reasonable value for money.  This is especially true in the continental United States where great deals can be had.

The Dalmore 12 represents a worthwhile entry point into the realm of sherried Highland malts.  Want to know what sherry in scotch tastes like?  The Dalmore 12 is a good place to start.  It is gentle, refined, and not revealing any cheapness on the palate that I suffered with in my review of Aberlour 12 (see my previous post).  I recommend it so long as the price continues to be reasonable.  Apparently, the drinks company that owns the brand has made some efforts to give it a more upscale appeal along with a higher price tag.  So, be careful to comparison shop to ensure you are not over-paying.

Peer Review
The Dalmore 12, to my mind, is competing with other sherried single malts like Aberlour 12, Aberfeldy 12, GlenDronach, Balvenie 12 yrs Doublewood and Macallan 12.  It holds forth ok in such company.  Better than Aberlour 12 but not as refined as Balvenie, nor as great a bang for your buck as GlenDronach.  Dalmore is in the middle of the pack.

Conclusion
The Dalmore 12 year old is an unpretentious whisky that delivers nice, balanced sweet sherry flavors with the dry oak and spices that make it a logical choice for the newbie.  At the same time, this scotch does have some limitations.  The lack of great complexity prevents it from making any lists of 'must-have' single malts.  This is comfort scotch when you have a craving for some sherried whisky, balanced out by a heavy treatment of oak from the American bourbon casks that it spent time in prior to bottling.  It is not in the league of the truly great 12 year old single malts like:  Highland Park 12 years.

Cheers!


Jason Debly

Copyright © Jason Debly, 2009-2011. All rights reserved. Any and all use is prohibited without permission.


. . . 

Scotch & a Good Story
Back in July of this past summer, I suggested that there was nothing quite like reading a trashy novel and having a sip of a nice drink.  Like most of you, I have read my fair share of pot boilers.  Unlike most of you, I tried my hand at writing one.  So, I did and posted my effort in the July 19 post (click here).  I started with the first chapter, thinking subsequent scotch reviews could be followed by another chapter of my book.


I did that for a while, but I started to receive email from people asking me to post the whole novel in a single post.  It would be easier to read at their leisure.  So, that is what I have done.  Click here in order to go back to the original post and read the novel in it's entirety.  


Cheers!


Jason Debly

Copyright © Jason Debly, 2009-2011. All rights reserved. Any and all use is prohibited without permission.

Review: Aberlour 12 years Double Cask Matured Single Malt Scotch Whisky

Fall, Dark and Handsome
Well, it's that time of year again.  Summer is over, leaves are changing color, sunrise is later than usual, and sunset is earlier than I would like it.  The air is much cooler in the morning, crisp, if you will.  Your linen sport coat is traded for winter weight wool and damn, you know what is coming:  winter!

At this time of year, I crave sherried scotch.  I put away those light tasting malts like Cragganmore, Johnnie Walker Green Label, and Glenfiddich 15yrs.  Light honey taste must give way to something more warming.  Heavy, brooding malts that are warming with lashes of sherry, dark fruits and wood smoke that is not to be trifled with.  Balvenie Doublewood 12yrs, The Macallan 12yrs and maybe a real heavy weight will make an appearance like Highland Park 12 or 18yrs.

To that end, I reached for a bottle of Aberlour 12 years, a highland malt that undergoes aging in oak and sherry casks.  The result is predominantly sherried.

Nose (undiluted)
Cloves, nutmeg and cinnamon sticks.

Palate (undiluted)
Initial spiced dark currants, cherry, over-ripe black grapes, transitions mid-palate to a teensy weensy bit raw, unadulterated alcohol.  Brackish water comes to mind.

Finish (undiluted)
Some smoke.  A little green and a tinge of bitterness accompanies the taste of sherry and oak at the end.

General Impressions
What I do like about this malt is how it starts sweet, but nicely transitions to a dry feel by the time of the finish.  That is to be commended at the low price point this malt occupies.  What I don't like about this scotch is the taste of alcohol mid-palate.  The sign of a good scotch is the ability to mask the underlying alcohol content such that the drinker forgets what a strong drink he holds.  A good blender of malts will achieve this.

Let me put it another way.  If this was a no-age-statement single malt, I wouldn't be complaining or frankly expecting as much of it.  But, for a 12 year old single malt, I am expecting a certain level of refinement which means no unpleasant surprises on the palate.  Aberlour 12 is a decent single malt, a go-to comfort scotch I suppose for some people, but not by any means an exceptional malt.

This malt also lacks complexity of flavor.  Buy this and you are getting a straight forward delivery of sherry, oak, a little heat and raw alcohol.  Oh yeah, there is some smoke, some spice, but not great smoke.  No Cohiba or H. Upmann here.  More like Vantage or Virginia Slims.

Some people are fans of this, but I suspect their affection has more to do with the reasonable price, as opposed to the actual taste.  Yes, it is quaffable, but so is Coca-Cola.

Add Water?
Add some water.  Some people think it will improve.  I am not so sure.  Might take a little of the green and bitter elements away leaving in its place the brackish water I mentioned above.  You will have to experiment.

Conclusion
In all honesty, I can't recommend Aberlour 12 years Double Cask Matured.  When I want a sherried scotch and I do not want to spend a lot of money, I will reach for GlenDronach 12 years every time.  Another alternative for a little more money is The Balvenie Doublewood.  No green tinge or young alcohol to contend with on the finish with these two suggestions.

Cheers!


Jason Debly

Copyright © Jason Debly, 2009-2011. All rights reserved. Any and all use is prohibited without permission.