Whisky: Dailuaine 13 Year (2006), SMWS 41.126 “Garden Bonfire Dram”

Country/Region: Scotland/Speyside

ABV: 57.1%

Cask: Oloroso Butt (10Y), Heavily Toasted Medium Charred European Oak Puncheon

Age: 13 Years (Distilled 14 July 2006)

Nose: Cherries, wood, and chocolate; baking spices and aromatics; mineral oil, wood polish, and malty molasses bread loaves.

Palate: Full-bodied, unctuous waves of molasses, baking spices, cherries, and plums; sticky buns and malty pastries; lacquered wood and chocolate brownies.

Finish: Long with tingling pepper, drying astringency, oak, and dried fruit.

Score: 7 (84)

Mental Image: Decadent Desserts and Candlelight

Narrative & Notes: Cherries and lacquered wood bloomed with rich dark chocolate and unctuous bubbling spices— peppercorns, cinnamon sticks, and rosebuds. A touch spirited at times, wood ran throughout with mineral oil, wood polish, and dark molasses bread. Full-bodied and unctuous, the flavor profile featured a tidal wave of molasses and baking spices with rivers of cherries and plums interspersed.  Sticky buns and malty pastries carried on with hints of chocolate, fudge brownies, and plenty of lacquered wood.  The finish was long with tingling peppery spirit, a touch of drying astringency, oak, and dried fruits.

Intense— in one word. These big old cask bombs are not usually to my taste, but every once in a while, they just tickle my fancy with the right balance of sweet fruits, wood, and savory undertones.  This had all of that and I would rank it just a hair behind a beloved sibling cask (SMWS 41.127).

Overall, a cracking cask-driven affair, though the malt was no slouch and never disappeared under the influence of the oloroso butt and heavily charred new European oak puncheon. As a good friend would likely put it, a real “unga-bunga” malt.