Gee golly, I sure do like and respect Dailuaine! The word on Dailuaine has certainly spread rapidly in the internet age, and I have even heard the distillery mentioned by name at whisky-centric bars. One of the constellation of lesser known Diageo distilleries that gets used heavily for blends, the distillate is very well respected and makes for some lovely, delicate single malts.
This is a single cask bottling from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS"), full sherry maturation: 12 years in an American oak ex-Oloroso butt, 3 years in a first fill Spanish oak ex-Oloroso butt, bottled at 59.1% ABV. Named by comedian/actor/influencer Neil Patrick Harris, who commented "I giggle when I think I'm sniffing a butt, but I get sober fast when I see it's 15 years old." Hahahah!
Here are the official notes:
A rich and elegant aroma that has us dreaming of an evening at a South American resort complete with thatched roofs and gravel walkways. Dried figs, candied dates, and a faint hint of woodsmoke are intertwined with peanut brittle, lemongrass, and thyme. A dash of water brings out dark chocolate mousse, pistachio, and maraschino cherries. Dessert may be on the table but the night is just getting started! After 12 years in an American oak Oloroso butt, this whisky spent the next 3 years in a 1st fill Spanish oak Oloroso butt.
As I just typed to my friend Rob, every sherried Dailuaine I've had has been strikingly similar to Macallan, but one or two notes less intense. "Rich" and "elegant" describes this pretty well.
Well, let's check it out!:
Nose: Soft, delicate, and subtle: fig, date, raisin, hint of smoke or ash, with a note of ... yes, lemongrass, ginger, and pork, like Thai food. The official notes are pretty close here. I get no peanut brittle, but I do get chocolate and something almost like caramelized onions (!).
With water: Oddly "cleaner" with water - less "thatch and gravel," more cherry and chocolate.
Mouthfeel: Thick, viscous mouthfeel.
Palate: A really nice flavor development here: polished wood, spice, stone fruit (peach, cherry), fig and date tart, caramelized onions, hints of pork, light sulfur, and smoke. The official notes are strangely reticent about all these notes. Quite a nice development.
With water: Wonderful. Much better with water: all the above flavors gain a level or two of depth. The smoke becomes floral; the cherry becomes black cherry soda; the polished wood is oak and varnish; the spice is cinnamon cookie; etc. etc. Water really unlocks this one.
I often find that sherry-matured Dailuaine is only a notch or two below cask strength Macallan and its kin in terms of flavor depth, and this is no different.
Finish: Just classical Oloroso-matured scotch finish: cherry, ash, pork, spice, wood, pepper, sticky dates.
Verdict: It's a little telling that the official notes are rather brief - this isn't a tremendously complex whisky, and I've had two or three sherried Dailuaines that were better than this. I suspect this was funneled into sherry casks from the start because the new make spirit was deemed a little anemic. It's still good - all Dailuaine seems good - but it's not superior.
A better variant on this theme is SMWS 41.147, "Brooding Armchair Dram" which is also 15 years old, but mostly ex-bourbon with a 2 year sherry finish.
Still, a very solid whisky front to back. Far stronger and more rounded than the Glentauchers it was paired with in the bundle I bought.
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