Review #66 - SMWS 41.147 'Brooding Armchair Dram' - Dailuaine 15 Year
SMWS 'Spicy and Sweet' Profile Mini-Series: Part 2 of 3
Another hard-to-find distillate, and another Diageo brand which can occasionally be found in independent bottlings. I guess we could have named this series 'Speyside Diageo-Owned Whiskies with Minimal Core Ranges bottled by the Scotch Malt Whisky Society,' but that doesn't have much of a ring to it...
Dailuaine is another distillery that contributes greatly to the Johnnie Walker blends. Owned by Diageo and residing in Carron, Aberlour in Speyside, this whisky is essentially non-existent in the distillery bottling realm - it's only available occasionally via independent bottlers. Like the Linkwood in our prior review, we were drawn to this whisky from the SMWS after hearing about the character of the distillery, but our only route to taste it was via an independent. As with many distilleries under Diageo's ownership, there is supposedly a very good malt here, hidden behind blending/chill-filtration/lack of availability. Luckily, we were able to find a release available in our area.
SMWS 41.147 'Brooding Armchair Dram' - Dailuaine 15 Year
Scotland/Speyside - Single Malt
Price Paid: USD 155 (2022)
Current Locally Available Price: Sold out, no longer available
Age Statement: 15 Years
Strength: 59.8% ABV
Cask Makeup: Ex-bourbon hogshead, finished in 2nd fill ex-PX hogshead
Details: 1 of 261 bottles, distilled March 2006
Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 4 times over 6 months; bottles at 90%, 80%, 70% (blind tasting), and 50% fill levels at times of review. Tasted in a Glencairn glass each time, rested 10-15 minutes
Nose: This nose starts quite closed up, mellow, cohesive; it takes a while to open up and reveal its real flavors. Brown sugar and maple sugar come to the front, with some classic ex-bourbon notes; there's oak, like furniture wood, and some baking spices of vanilla, cinnamon, and then creamy vanilla bean, even bordering on creme brulee. There are a decent number of fruits here, too: white grape, turning to grape soda, orange soda, dry fig, and some prune/raisin. There's even a bit of apple, or spiked apple cider, in there. Once given sufficient time, the classic older whisky notes come out: leather, old books, shoe polish, coffee, more furniture wood, even a bit of toast in the oak.
Palate: Refined, but with some heat, and very rich overall, with a thick mouthfeel. We start with lots of oak notes: maple sugar, char, wood smoke, wood spice, and some old furniture. There are lots of sugar notes, too: creme brulee, rum sauce, syrupy molasses, dark brown sugar, and wood sugar. The fruits are back as well: bananas, orange, but then it starts to get darker, like raisin and fig, prune and overly sweet medicinal cherries. There is a tickle around the palate from spices of vanilla, clove, white pepper, and nutmeg; the oak grows richer as well. There is a slight dirtiness to the spirit, and some oats, but this has mostly been covered up by the oak from aging. The palate ends with some flowery perfume.
Finish: The finish is warm and medium-long, with lots of lingering richness and sweetness from the sherry finish. There are grape and plum, along with baked goods like cinnamon rolls topped with brown sugar. We find molasses, semi-sweet chocolate chips, chalky dark chocolate, and a bit of wood smoke, too; the oak notes are plentiful in general. After a little bit of shoe polish and orange fruit, there is a little peppery kick at the end, a hint of bitterness.
Final Note: Compared to the younger Linkwood from our last review, this Dailuaine is nicely matured, with many of those stronger, darker oak and polish notes we look for with some age. There is decently complexity here, with plenty of spices and fruits, but overall, this is a pretty subtle malt - nothing really stands out, nothing grabs the attention. Maybe that's why we haven't gone a little higher with the rating? A good whisky, yes, but not quite excellent. And, because of that pesky pricing with a lot of modern IBs, value isn't exactly stellar.
Our Average Rating: 7.8 / 10
In the current whisky landscape of increasing prices and variable quality, we've added a value rating to our reviews that relates to the score and the available pricing of each whisky. This roughly equates to a 0-10 scale; no reviews so far have exceeded a score of 10, although it is technically possible for the formula to produce a value rating higher than 10 with a high enough score and low enough price.
Value Rating: 5.77
