Dalmore 33 Year Old 1976 Douglas Laing Old Malt Cask

Douglas Laing's Old Malt Cask series is world famous. Quite a few gems to be found (including the best Auchentoshan I ever tried, but that’s a different story). Fred and his team have bottled no less than 15 casks of Dalmore in the series, including this one. This cask gave a rum finish to the Dalmore 1976 – a cask that yielded only 98 bottles and is also their oldest Dalmore to date. It was distilled in December 1976 and bottled in October 2010, just shy of 34 years old.

Wonderfully sweet nose on semoule, nougat and marzipan. Pleasantly spiced. Mandarin, pineapple and some rum raisins. Hints of mirabelles, the little yellow plums. Very fruity, accessible and pleasant. I makes my mouth water.

It caresses the taste buds, mildly oily, but then explodes on the palate in fruit and spices. Yellow fruit, mostly, but also some berries, strawberries and a hint of kiwi. Then suddenly cherries appear as in a cherry liqueur. The spices are louder than on the nose. I get pepper, ginger, cinnamon and some anise. It also has a dark edge like molasses. That must be from the rum cask.

Long and spicy finish. Now the influence of the rum becomes obvious.

Very pleasant Dalmore, but nowhere to be found anymore I’m afraid.

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