Scotland, Speyside: Single malt whisky through the producing distilleries: history, making, production and tasting notes

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Dailuaine

Description of the whisky

The distillery

Dailuaine Distillerie

Dailuaine Distillery
Carron, Aberlour
Banffshire
AB38 7RE
+44 1340 810 361

Owner: United Distillers & Vintners (Diageo)

Creation date 1852

William Mackenzie founded the Dailuaine distillery in 1852, 21 years before the "Strathspey Railway" was build. This new railway would facilitate the transport of whisky.
When William died, the distillery has been rent out until his son, Thomas was able to run the distillery in 1879.
Thomas refurbished Dailuaine and made it one of the most important distilleries of the area.
Like many other distilleries in those days, the name "Glenlivet" has been added to its name, just before joining Talisker to become "Dailuaine-Talisker Distilleries Ltd." in 1898.
Later Thomas build a new distillery, Imperial.
Things wen very well up to the crisis years at the end of the 19th century. Thomas died in 1915, and as he had no family, the distillery has been taken over by a group of Dailuaine's customers, among others James Buchanan, John Dewar and John Walker. So the distillery became part of UDV, after it absorbed D.C.L. who owned the Buchanan, Dewar and Walker groups.
The distillery has been destroyed by a fire in 1917, and the production did not resume until 1920.
In 1950, the distillery joined up the electricity network, and new alterations found place between 1959 and 1960.
A "Saladin box" replaced the malt floors up to 1983, when the distillery began buying its malt in a malting. However, the saladin box is still present, and ready to be used again whenever it would be needed.
Only 2% of the production are marketed as single malt (sold by UDV in the Fauna & Flora collection or by Gordon & MacPhail), the remaining part being reserved to blends like Johnnie Walker.

The whisky

A propos des notes de dégustation Your own tasting notes

List of the bottles

Description of the distillery

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 Dailuaine: official bottlings
 

Dailuaine
Fauna & Flora
16 years


Age
16 years
Alcohol
43°
Bottler
Official
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The colour is amber red, and sherry tastes, candy, nuts and oranges dominate.
A warm and long malt, balanced by dryer notes of oak and cedar. 

What a pity to notice that 98% of this marvelous malt disappear in Johnnie Walker and other blends... This distillery is rather unknown  by the general public but produces a single malt which competes favourably with those of the famous Macallan distillery. The same sherry hints, but a very long finish. Pure pleasure for long minutes. It is unfortunately not very easy to find....

A second tasting confirmed the first one. A very great malt.

The third tasting just confirmed the two first ones. Really an exceptional bottling.

A rather rich nose, dominated by clear hints of sherry and some tingling's, hiding malted smells with citrus touches. In the palate, a very nice presence and a great complexity, somewhere between sherry, chocolate and malt with remote hints of tangerine, but also some woody influence. A quite long and pleasant finish, recalling malted notes.
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Dailuaine: independant bottlings

Dailuaine
Berry Bros & Rudd
1974


Age
31 years
Alcohol
46°
Bottler
Berry Bros & Rudd
=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros< 25 euros
Dailuaine Berry Bros 1974
A very smooth smell, nicely fruity, nice floran hints. The mouth is perfectly in the mood of the nose with some discrete and fine woody hints. The taste is rather difficult to describe precisely, sweetness on the foreground and slight superimposed bitterness. Very nice finish, rather long and very smooth. A touch of plum at the end. A very special dram, nicely complex, without any aggressivity but with lots of personality.
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Speyside

Speyside Map

The Speyside area is situated at the North of the Cairngorm mountain and goes to the Moray firth. It is delimited by two rivers: the Findhorn at the West side and the Deveron on the East side.
The area is named after the river Spey. Most of the distilleries take their water in one of its affluents; the Fiddich, the Livet or the Avon.
About sixty distilleries from Speyside are described on this site.

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Click on the map for a list of the distilleries of the area, on the title for further information
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click on one of the pagode roofs, according to the direction you want to follow

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