The Dalmore 1973 30 Yeasr Old Special Cask Finish Single Malt Whisky (Old Bottle)

Released in 2003 before Whyte and Mackey was acquired by the Thailand Conglomerate and became a highly luxury brand. Dalmore has one of the strangest distillation process in Scotland. The wash stills at Dalmore have flat tops, and are also in two sizes. Three are 13,000-litres in capacity, the fourth is double that. The spirit stills all sport water coolers around their necks to assist in reflux. Again, one of the quartet is double the size. Because of this discrepancy in size and the fact that the spirit stills are charged when the low wines and feints receiver is full, the strength of the charge to those stills varies, creating different end flavours. Condensing is also unusual. The spirit stills have external shell and tube condensers which lie horizontally. This mirrors the old worm pipe which lay in the burn which runs outside the stillhouse. The new make has a densely fruity with a cereal background, making it suitable for ex-sherry cask maturation. Unlike other distillery nowadays, ex-solera casks soaked in oloroso and PX Sherry for decades are preferred over the oak-driven bespoke casks now common across the industry.