Nose: Now this is a wonderful whisky on the nose. It's absolutely crammed with rich and interesting aromas. First up there's a huge waft of sherry, which soon gets knocked out the way by an onslaught of milk chocolate, orange rind, Christmas cake, Brazil nuts, cloves, figs, toffee and ginger snap biscuits. Leave it to settle for another five minutes or so, and maple syrup and buttery fudge join in the fun. There's also a slight grassy note combined with a double shot of espresso.Palate: Unfortunately, this is the point where the Dalmore 15 begins to lose its way. After such an amazing nose, I was expecting to be bowled over by an abundance of thick, rich flavours. While there are notes of orange, toffee, vanilla, nuts and a shaving of green wood here, it's all a bit insipid and lacks some much needed punch. Disappointing.
Finish: After racing out of the starting blocks in spectacular style and then missing its stride halfway through, I had hoped the Dalmore 15 would redeem itself when it approached the finish line. Unfortunately, it managed to stumble again and eventually crawled across the line in a disappointing time. I found the finish far too short and all I could really pick up was hints of dry caramel, vanilla and orange oil.
Notes: This is the third Dalmore that's passed my lips - I've spent a bit of time previously with the 12 and 18 - but I haven't been impressed with any of them. Maybe it's the low alcohol volume, perhaps it's just my personal sense of smell and taste, it might even be that my tastes are constantly changing - who knows, but whatever it is, something about the whisky just doesn't click for me. I thought the 15 promised much with those sublime aromas wafting from the glass, but the taste and finish came up short. It would be interesting to try a higher strength bottling, but looking at some of the prices, I don't think that will be happening any time soon. A real disappointment for me.
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