tasting 5 Dailuaines

A very good distillate, one of the more unnoticed distilleries that usually provides
great single malt, in my opinion. But of course, I have not tried many enough to blindly trust every Dailuaine to be a great dram. Let's explore more...



Dailuaine 14yo 1998-2012 46% Gordon & Macphail Connoisseurs Choice

White wine color, smells of hay, wheat, malt and black pepper. A very basic malt, straightforward stuff with little cask influence. The taste is sweet oak, syrup, molasses, malty, sweet stuff. I can't go much further as there's little to no aftertaste, maybe some tea and camphor. A weak dailuaine which I still will rate above the crap zone 0-2, just because there's no real flaws.

Light, easy, drinkable, but one might as well have a vodka: 3


Dailuaine 18yo 1980-1998 45% Samaroli cask#1527

Bottled when the G&M was distilled. The color is hazy golden. It smells peppery, raw, chopped onions, vermouth, vinegar, peppery. The taste is gingerbread, mushrooms, oily, phenolic, straw, rubbery. With some added water it turns yeastier, camembert cheese, wheat, very light and sweet.

Seems these diluted versions lacks a bit: 4.5


Dailuaine 26yo 1983-2010 53.1% Bladnoch Forum cask#4316

Light brown color, perhaps from a sherry cask? Yes, from a sherry hogshead online resources tells me. It smells oaky, dark chocolate, resinous, onions, grassy, not much sherry influence here except some very bitter resinous notes. The taste is cinnamone, dried grass, spring onions, vegetable oil, drying, walnuts, a complex sherry monster.

A nice whisky that hasn't gone over-oaked fortunately: 6


Dailuaine/Banks O' Doon 14yo 59.7% The Whisky Connoisseur cask#8965

I have had another whisky from the same cask, same age and strength, but that was called "Friars Carse". A bit confusing when they bottle the same whisky under two different names. The color is golden. It smells honey, toffee, smoky aromas, lavender, junipers, dried fruits, figs, coffee. The taste is peppery, drying, maize, wheat, starch, quite a disappointment from the nice nose. The finish is peaty and peppery, lasts for quite a while.

Good whisky, but I remember it being better: 6.5


Dailuaine 12yo 62.4% James MacArthur's cask#6911

Many young CS from JMcA, and many excellent ones as well. Let's hope for another one now. The color is white wine. It smells strong and spirity, yeasty, blue cheese, raw onions, charcoal, esters, salty. The taste is sweet, sugary, marshmallows, peaty, peppery, linseed oil, grape juice, orange zest. With water it gets more dry, austere, flinty, seas salt, wheat, pickles, I like this style, but there's a lot of nuances to keep up with.

A very nice whisky for those that likes a challenge, and I do: 8



Next tasting: Bunnahabhain Distillery