The Dalmore Single Highland Malt 12 Year

The Dalmore Distillery was established in 1839 by a man named Alexander Matheson and is located in Alness, Scotland. Unfortunately, their web site is currently going through an update and their Wikipedia page is a little short on details. The distillery is located in northern Scotland and thus the moniker “Single Highland Malt”. The packaging is quite simple with a 750ml bottle adorned by the signature 12 point buck on the bottle and traditional style label.

The Dalmore Single Highland Malt has a marvelous, rich amber hue that you can only hope tastes as good as it looks. The aroma is quite strong and actually belies its taste. Stick your nose in a bell shaped glass and your eyes might actually water up before the scotch hits your lips. That being said, the taste is quite pleasant with subtle undertones of vanilla and caramel. It is a fairly strong whisky and the taste improves significantly with water. I strongly recommend trying it straight up for full effect the first time around and add a generous portion of water for the second go of it. You’ll find that the flavor becomes easier to discern. The finish is long and warming and you can almost feel the heat spreading throughout your body.

The Dalmore 12 Year Old Single Highland Malt is a bit of a paradox. While the aroma and feel are quite intense the flavor and finish are quite smooth and subtle. This is your quintessential Scotch whisky and should appeal to just about anyone who likes a good single malt. To sweeten the deal even further, a bottle of Dalmore 12 year old scotch will run you about $35.00. This makes it the perfect single malt for those of us who like to drink, but don’t like to pay for it.