Scotch Tasting – December 2nd and 3rd

Dalmore 12 year and 15 year old Highland Single Malt Scotch

Well let’s get to the obvious question that struck me first; what’s up with the stag head on the bottle? It’s a great story. Some say the real test of courage is how someone reacts when faced with immediate true danger. Such a moment arose in 1262 when King Alexander III of Scotland was out with his hunting party. During the hunt a stag charged at the King and all of the men froze except Colin of Kintail, Chief of the Clan Mackenzie as he speared the charging stag in the forehead saving King Alex III.

The saying, ‘fortune favours the brave’ became a living example as King Alexander III award Colin the lands of Eilen Donan. Colin of Kintail and his Mackenzie clan were also given the right to bear a 12-pointed Royal Stag as their crest!

In 1839, Alexander Matheson searched for the ideal distillery location with a criteria different to his counterparts. Most distilleries were being built in the well-established Speyside, but Matheson sought greater resources. His search led him to the Cromarty Firth, in the remote North not far from the coast. Here he found everything for exceptional whisky.

In 1867, Alexander Matheson decided it was time to pass the distillery onto Andrew and Charles Mackenzie.

The Barley – This wild land was bathed in sunshine allowing the barely to grow rich in minerals. So extensive and important was the farm land, Matheson named the whisky after it. The Dalmore = ‘Big Meadow’ in old Scots!

The Water – For 175 years, the water has been from Loch Morie just 12 miles from the distillery.

The Distillation – Only the finest run off is used after the second distillation of their unique shaped stills.

The Casks – The Dalmore uses two types of casks, traditional American White Oak from Kentucky distilleries, and sherry casks from the world- renowned winery Gonzales Byass.

The Dalmore 12 year – At the time, the standard maturation for whisky was 6 years, but Andrew Mackenzie was one of the first to double the maturation period to 12 years. It is aged 9 mos. in the American white oak, then one-half remains in these ex-bourbon casks while the other half goes into 30 year old Oloroso sherry butts.

The Dalmore 15 year – Is matured 12 years in the American white oak and is then split equally between tree different sherry woods; Amoroso, Apostoles, and Matusalem Oloroso for 3 more years.

Kilchoman, Machir Bay Single Malt Scotch Whisky, Islay

Founded in 2005, Kilchoman is leading the revival of farm distilling in Scotland on the Isle of Islay – it was the first new distillery to be built on the island since 1881 (In 124 years!). Kilchoman is one of the smallest distilleries in Scotland and is one of only six distillers who continue the tradition of floor malting. The distillery takes it a step further by growing its own grain. In order to maximize flavor and texture, these single malt whiskeys are distilled at a very slow rate. Kilchoman is the only distillery to complete all parts of the whisky making process on site. Kilchoman truly is Islay’s farm distillery – from barley to bottling. No coloring agents are added and the whiskeys are non chill-filtered.

Machir Bay is a vatting of four and five year old ex-bourbon casks, with the four-year casks being finished in Oloroso sherry butts for four weeks prior to bottling.

Highland Park 12 year Orkney Island

Highland Park is the northern most distillery and is one of only a handful of distilleries that still retains a traditional malting floor, turning each batch of malt by hand, in what is a physically demanding process. To malt our barley, we steep it in the mineral rich water from the Crantit spring, before transferring it to the malting floor to slowly germinate. When it is ready, the barley is then placed in our kilns where the aromatic peating process begins.

One of the fundamental flavors in Highland Park single malt whisky is the delicate, sweet, aromatic peat smoke, which has given Highland Park its unique character since 1798. The Orkney Islands have an abundance of this sweet, heathery peat, which is around 4000 years old and is carefully selected from Hobbister Moor. The peat we cut is a mixture of textures and aromas ranging from a more floral heather-rich top layer, to a darker, denser material, the mixture giving the resulting smoke a slow burning and complex aroma. We use Oloroso and American casks.