Dalmore 10 Year Old Medoc Finish (Chieftain's)

Ian McLeod is independent bottler that markets its whiskies under several brands, such as ‘As we get it’ (cask strength), ‘Dun Bheagan’, ‘McLeod’s’ and ‘Chieftain’s’. An older bottling is this Dalmore 10 Year Old Medoc Finish from their Chieftain’s Range. Finished on a French Bordeaux wine cask. Distilled in 1994 and bottled in 2005.

The nose is a shocker! This is a prime example of baby puke. Yikes! Against better judgement, I try to discover other aromas. I get – not without considerate effort – something sweet like oranges and something sourish from (presumably) the wine. This is absolutely not good.

The taste is both sweet and sour, without a clear indication of where this whisky wants to go. Immediately a big bitterness kicks in. Finally a salty tang. Oh, my, all four flavours. But none are really enticing and the interplay is less than mediocre. With a bit of good will, one can say there are nuts in there.

The finish is fairly long and rather alcoholic and salty.

This is not at all what I would expect from a Dalmore. It goes to show once again that wine finishes are always a tricky thing. If this was a Dalmore experiment, it’s a failure. To be avoided.

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