Dalmore 18 year old

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We've seen Dalmore at the liquor store for a while now and more importantly Dalmore has seen us. Every time we're there it whispers at us and tries to lure us in. Originally the Cigar Malt was the one that caught our attention. While it comes in a fairly fancy box, its not overly fancy, just fancy enough to say 'hey, I'm a $149.99 scotch'. But then out pops the 18 year old and it's only $25 more. We could only resist for so long.

The Dalmore 18 year old is aged in american oak ex-bourbon casts for 14 years and  then switched to 30 year old Matusalem sherry butts for another 4 years. It's bottled at 43% alcohol by volume, probably not unchilled filtered and who knows if it has had any colour added. It's a very dark rich amber colour, but some of that probably comes from those sherry butts.

The nose begins with fruits, with apple specifically popping out. You can smell the sherry, nice and sweet, along with a very nice rich chocolate aroma. Underneath it all are subtle scents: lemon and orange, sweet pipe tobacco. And finally a little leather and oak.

The palate is spicy with the taste of ginger. But then there's a contrast with a candied sweetness that we can't quite place but is very pleasant. Maybe this candied sweetness comes from the sherry. It's quite tasty.

The finish is very long and building. It continues to build and adjust in a way that allows you  focus on different aspects over multiple drinks. Chocolate really comes out in the finish and mixes beautifully with caramel and buttery toffee, and a little almond comes through.

A really good scotch for sure, but a little pricey. Wouldn't buy it again, solely based on that price. But don't take us wrong, it's very good and we don't regret getting it to try it out, but its definitely a 'treat yourself once to' sort of experience.