SMWS 2013 13.106 Stag Wine Artist #13 SMWS 40th Anniversary 10 yo

 

 

 

60,1°

Distillery : The Dalmore - Highlands

1st Fill Cosecha Wine Cask

Independent Bottling 

By Scotch Malt Whisky Society

Limited Edition 

Single Cask

Bottled in 2023

Unchillfiltered, Uncoloured, Cask Strength

Totally Unpeated

 

 

 

For 40 years now, Pip Hills, through his trading company Scotch Malt Whisky Society, has been having fun putting codes on the bottles he sells. To celebrate this anniversary, La Maison du Whisky has offered to distribute some of the Society's finest bottles via its Artist range. Here we have a Dalmore aged in a cask of a sweet Andalusian wine called Cosecha, made from the Pedro Ximénez grape variety. 237 bottles are on sale, and the label features an artwork by Claire Barclay entitled New View I.

 

 

 

Let's Taste It : 

The nose is full of sweet wine with vegetal notes. Grass cut in the morning, still beaded with dew, linden and birch bark, young trees. Stewed red fruits, damsons, muscat grapes, brandied cherries. Sandalwood, cinnamon, blood orange, minty freshness, slightly mineral. On the palate, spicy wood with a touch of vanilla and lots of red fruit, cloves, thyme and rosemary, some cereals, toasted wheat, crispy barley. The finish is long and chocolaty, quite explosive, powerful, liquorice and caramel, grapefruit coulis, braised peel, crushed nuts.

 

In Short, 

It's very well made, very close to excellence. The influence of the wine cask gives it something more frank and vigorous than the previous Dalmore I've tasted. And there's the same subtlety, the same depth. It's a complete success. I'd highly recommend it to fans of the distillery, except that it's completely sold out despite the sky-high price. Incidentally, I'd point out that SMWS bottling 13.105 was apparently already aged in a Cosecha cask, possibly the first part of the cask, and it was sold for more than half the price.

Score : 89  

                                           To Be Listened While Sipping :

 

                                           Bonnie Medicine - Crack Me Open

The Dalmore King Alexander III

 

 

 

40°

Distillery : The Dalmore - Highlands

Cabernet Sauvignon, Port, Madeira, Marsala, Oloroso Sherry and Ex-Bourbon Casks 

Original Bottling 

Core Range 

Single Malt 

Launched in 2008

Totally Unpeated

 

 

 

In 1263, Colin Kintail, the head of the MacKenzie clan, killed a stag that had attacked Alexander III, King of Scotland. To thank him for saving his life, the King gave the clan the emblem of the 12-wooded Royal Rambler, and when the clan took over ownership of the distillery in 1867, they promptly put the emblem on every bottle. This sextuple-aged edition, the work of David Paterson, pays tribute to this episode. Although it is not stated on the bottle, it would appear to be a 14-year-old. 

 

 

 

Let's Taste It : 

With such a complex blend, you can feel the various aromas passing the ball back and forth. Red fruits, cherry, apple, gooseberry, gingerbread, blueberry, blackberry, vanilla and hazelnut. The palate is just as complex, but above all woody. Resin, varnish, a touch of damp bark, moss, pepper and clove. Molasses, sweet paprika and cinnamon, blood orange. Caramel and heather on a fairly long finish. Pine cones, nutmeg, dark chocolate, chestnut. Slight earthiness. 

 

In Short,

It's really interesting, and exciting for a curious nose like mine. That said, it's a bit light on alcohol, and overall, it remains fairly smooth. So it's not quite to my taste, and the price is totally disproportionate.

Score : 85

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                            To Be Listened While Sipping :

  

                                            Norah Jones - The Nearness of You