Silver Seal Whisky is Nature Dalmore 1990 Aged 25 Years

Style: Malty and Spicy

Rating: ☆ [Recommended]

Nose:

Rather closed aroma upon pour, ferocious alcohol spice stampedes through. A tiny opening is found at a peppermint overtone, then it descends to lemon icing which lands nicely on malt cupcake. Citrus orange candy at the heart. Faint whiff of wet green grass, the aroma feels “cold” and tight even I let it sit for more than 20 minutes. Flavours offering plenty of depth beyond the juggernaut spice.

Palate:

The expression is more tamed on the palate. Sweet orange jaffa cake blossoms, malt infuses with the powerful dry spices. Black liquorice gives a soft earthy tone while blue berries drop offers a second dimension of sweetness. Creamy vanilla and coffee jelly with a raw, green linseed twist. Distant wood smoke burning quietly, finish with a sweet malty finish.

Finish:

Orange chocolate and malt syrup pouring onto a steaming sponge cake. Soft but delicious.

Thoughts:

After this, the feeling is hard to describe. The dram, or to a greater extent, the Dalmore spirit itself, is a very different beast compared to other single malts– more evidently so when it is a Bourbon cask Dalmore. This is the first time I see marauding rawness and glimpses of greenness in a whisky after 25 long years of maturation. It seems the bourbon influence has barely made a dent on this sturdy spirit… Inactive cask? I doubt it. Maybe this cask can go on for another 10, 15 years? Or finish with a stronger cask? Probably. Maybe I have not seen enough, but surely this is one of the most robust and enduring spirit I get to witness so far. How interesting.

[55.5% | 2015 Bottled | 1990 Distilled | Independent Bottling | Single Cask | Cask Strength | Non Chill Filtered | Non Coloured | Cask Number: 66 | Bottle 73 of 228 | *-]

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