Dalmore 10 Years Old 2005 13.47 It’s a knockout (59.3%, SMWS, Refill Bourbon Barrel, 199 Bottles, 2015)

• Category: Highland single malt scotch whisky
• Origin: Dalmore Distillery
• Bottling: Scotch Malt Whisky Society Cask 13.47 It’s a knockout
• ABV: 59.3%
• Cost: £51.70
• Score: 89/100

What they say:

13.47 It’s a knockout

Cask No. 13.47

This was not subtle to start with, in fact, it felt like one of Mike Tyson’s unbelievable knockout punches and after being counted out we were helped back up on to our feet. As we slowly recovered we could smell the aromas from the ringside seats of toffee caramels, sweet and salty buttered popcorn and monkey peanuts. The taste was initially a spicy hot dog but then, sweeter flavours of strawberries with molasses sour cream sauce emerged. Water brought out boozy orange caramel pancakes with crispy bacon and in the finish, clootie dumplings with Drambuie custard – one for the real grown-ups!

Drinking tip: Preparing for something big

Date Distilled: 12 May 2005 Colour: Sunflower oil Age: 10 years Flavour : Spicy & sweet Cask Type: Refill ex-bourbon barrel Whisky Region: Highland Northern Outturn: 199 bottles

What I say:

Sampled at the SMWS Big November Outturn preview tasting on 10th November 2015

Colour:

Light straw gold (5/20) thick oily tears slow moving leave thick legs

Nose:

Sweet and perfumed, apple and pear blossom, sweet honey, syrup and toffee

Taste:

Strong/rich sweet honey, citrus fruits lemon/lime and also green and red apples or apple juice, pear, oak wood, toffee caramel, butterscotch, cereal popcorn and malted barley flour, vanilla custard, perfumed and floral orchard blossom and associated honey

Finish:

Medium-long, smooth butterscotch sauce, perfumed fruit, Quince!

Overall:

Excellent, a real pleasure of a dram. Unusual enough to sample Dalmore distillate without their famous heavy Oloroso sherry influence. There is a lovely perfumed floral fruit sweetness about this one that took me a while to put my finger on. Then I remembered an old use for drying Quinces – nature’s own air-freshener, usually placed within linen drawers to give winter-long aroma. Sums up this Dalmore beautifully. Another favourite amongst the samplers, everyone agreed this one had a lot of class and character!

Don’t take my word for it:

Read what Tom thought about SMWS 13.47 over at Toms Whisky Reviews