Dalwhinnie 15 Single Malt Whisky Review

Dalwhinnie 15

I was looking through all my many unfinished whisky review Microsoft Word files and came across one for this classic Single Malt, which I had began  to write some 10 years ago! Indeed, Dalwhinnie 15 has made a regular (although not permanent) appearance in my whisky collection since the very beginning of my whisky adventure. So, a review of this is well overdue.

Coming from the North, the turning off to Dalwhinnie will be on the right

Terrain map showing the detour off of the A9 to Dalwhinnie Distillery

Dalwhinnie could possibly have the distinction of being the distillery I have most visited in Scotland. The reason is simple. It is perfectly situated so that stopping there breaks up the monotonous journey either traveling up the A9 towards the Speyside region or down towards the English border, and is a very convenient and most striking location to have a picnic lunch, being that it located right on the top of a mountain.

The Huge Outside Worm Tubs. The Barrels outside give you an idea of their size.

If you want to impress people with your distillery knowledge, you can casually point out (whilst nibbling on a fishball), the magnificent giant outdoor worm tubs (facing the car park and picnic area), used to cool the new-make-spirit straight off the stills. At last count, out of the almost 130 distilleries in Scotland, only about 16 of them still (or have chosen to use) old fashioned traditional worm tubs in order to cool the spirit down. Most use modern straight copper condensers. Worm tubs consist of a wooden tub that houses a long curling copper pipe resembling a snake or worm. (Hence its name). The tub is kept filled with cold water and in the winter at Dalwhinnie, this will be ice water.

Also of note is the fact that the distillery claims to be highest distillery in Scotland at just over 352m above sea level, although many will claim that Braeval distillery in Banffshire in the Speyside region, is actually, at one end of the distillery courtyard, just over a metre higher than Dalwhinnie at 354m above sea level. However, seeing as Braeval is not open to the public, we can say with confidence that Dalwhinnie is the highest distillery with a visitor’s centre in Scotland.

The mountain road, grandly named General Wade’s Military Road, leading to Dalwhinnie, runs parallel to the A9 so one can take a short detour, visit the distillery, take a tour of the distillery if you so wish, and then carry on the same road and meet up with the A9 further on.

Leaving the Dalwhinnie car park, it began to snow

I remember once we were driving down from the Speyside region and decided to stop off at Dalwhinnie. As we left the distillery (see photos above), it started to snow and I can tell you that driving south down that mountain road in a rented Vauxhall Astra was not a pleasant experience. I wouldn’t recommend driving up there (or any mountain road) in the snow with a regular car as it can get pretty hairy.

Our first rented Rav4. Taken outside Craigellachie Distillery.

The next time we drove to Scotland was in a rented 2016 Toyota Rav4 and despite it being in the middle of November and the road covered in snow, I never felt at any time that I was ever less than 100% in control. Everyone felt very safe. From then on, I always rent out a Rav4 from an official Toyota garage, to go up to Scotland.

First in the queue at Lochranza Ferry Terminal, Isle of Arran

Back in 2019 I had my parents in the backseats and my wife in the passenger seat of a rented 2019 Rav4 model. We had travelled all through the night and were now a few miles from the Ardrossan Ferry terminal in the early hours of the morning. We had to catch a CalMac ferry to the Isle of Arran at 6:30am when all of a sudden, we came to a sign saying that the main road leading to the ferry terminal was closed. Google Maps didn’t seem to be in the least bit phased and proceeded to take us on a road to the right. Well, the road turned into mammash a building site and half-built highway until we reached a roundabout in the process of construction. We could see the ferry terminal and ASDA Supermarket just up ahead. The only problem was, with my beams full on, I could see that there was about a 20-30cm (?) dip between the road we were on and the half constructed roundabout. I slowly edged forward and we traversed the dip without any problems, the Rav4 having more than sufficient road clearance. What we would have done had we been in a regular car, I don’t know. Also, why did Google Maps send us down there in the first place???? (OK, end of car commercial).

I think Dalwhinnie 15 is one of those single malts which people are aware of but tend to ignore, or at least don’t give high priority. This is a shame because I think it's a great single malt all-rounder in terms of style and range of flavours and a good choice as an introductory expression into the wonderful world of Single Malts.

So, what’s the problem?

The Price In Israel:

In the UK this expression retails for around £35 (160 Shekels). The price matches its profile. It’s a budget Introductory beginner’s Single Malt. So, once you add TAX etc, you would expect it to be around 220 Shekels here in Israel. So why is it that the Dalwhinnie 15 retails here in Israel (imported by IBBLS), for the ridiculously exorbitant price (at least in some places), of as much as 320-350 Shekels!?! When you consider all the excellent sub 300 Shekel bottles available here in Israel, far more exotic than this, no wonder this expression is pretty much ignored here in Israel. I managed to pick it up on Sale for 260 Shekels but even that is expensive when you compare it to others within the same price range or even more expensive in the UK.

Classic Malts of Scotland

Dalwhinnie 15 is one of six original “Classic Malts of Scotland” collection expressions. That brilliant marketing campaign from 1988 by what was then “United Distillers and Vintners” which transformed into the mammoth Diageo Corporation we know today.

Although the choice of Single Malt Whiskies obviously was chosen only from single malts available from UD & V, I nevertheless think that it was this campaign which is responsible for putting Single Malt in general, (as a product in its own right), on the Whisky map. As a testament to its success,  "The Classic Malt Collection" range is still going strong today, over 30 years after it was first conceived and appeared together in these six Diageo distilleries.

Dalwhinnie 15 years 43% representing The Highlands, Talisker 10 years 45% from the Isle of Skye representing the Islands, Cragganmore 12 years 40% from Speyside, Oban 14 years 43% from the West Highland, Lagavulin 16 years 43% from Islay and lastly Glenkinchie 12 years 43% from the Lowlands.

(As a side point. Just to show you how much things have changed today. All these Single Malts, conceived in the 1980s and chosen to represent six different regions, were all exclusively Ex-Bourbon matured with the exception of the Lagavulin 16, which as far as my research goes, used a combination of Ex-Bourbon casks and Refill Sherry casks. Today, most releases will contain at least some Ex-Sherry matured whisky, and very often from First-Fill fresh casks!)

I remember when I first encountered this impressive display line-up of this collection back in 1992 at Oban distillery. We had just finished a distillery tour and were led into a small tasting room where we were presented by not only little glasses of Oban 14, but offered samples from the entire range as well. I remember being really impressed at the time. The whole concept of this sample collection of single malts stuck with me and when we got to the airport for our flight home, I noticed a set of miniature sample bottles for sale in one of the Duty Free shops. I bought it and instead of keeping it as a memento display item, I used it for what it was intended for, that is, to open, sample, learn and enjoy with friends.

In 2002, when my parents came to stay with us, they brought with them a Talisker 10 and a Dalwhinnie 15, no doubt sold together on special offer. I seem to remember at the time, I thought the Talisker 10 was really rough (and back in those days it probably was), but I did very much enjoy the Dalwhinnie 15.

And, almost 20 years later I still do.

Packaging

I love the decision not to change the package design since its release back in the 1980s!! The label and bottle still look exactly the same, at least when I started buying it back in the late 1990s, early 2000s. There are not many single malt brands I can think of who could boast this.

I know it’s an overused word, especially in this review, but “Classic” for this 1980s Single Malt packaging design certainly does come to mind. The Dumpy wide bottle design and oldy-world-y artwork still looks great in 2021. Sister distilleries, Talisker packaging looks very different to what it looked like even 20 years ago, going from nautical map art in cream to dramatic drawings of storms in dark blue. Lagavulin have dropped many of their classic design features like the paper seal over the cork and the Empire Exhibition postage stamp style lion, and the new Lagavulin 12 even dropping the traditional oval top label in favour of a new nature theme.

 

Dalwhinnie 15, 75cl 43% abv, Price Around NIS 320

Matured exclusively in Ex-Bourbon Casks.

Colour and Appearance

There is no point talking about the colour as it has obviously had Caramel E150a added.

Aromas

A whiff of smoke. Something vaguely earthy, with barley grain sweet peat.

(I did a DuckDuckGo Search and found figures of around 2-3 PPM peat levels).

Sweet Apples and plump sultanas. Yellow fruits.

Very Ripe sweet yellow apples.

At 43%, very approachable with a tiny drop of water.

Dominant aromas of Heather Honey, sweet custard and sugared apple tarts.

Lots of sweet kitchen spices. A touch of cinnamon.

Slight hint of camomile tea perhaps?

Mahogany wood aromas.

A very straight forward single malt.

Apple blossom flowers.

Walnuts in shells, just cracked open.

Comment: This is a great choice in order to show someone that they are missing half the pleasure by just pouring themselves a dram, putting it to their lips and gulping it down (not forgetting the traditional comment of “Smoooooth”, whilst nodding your head after the first swallow). The aromas are varied and there is lots of depth. It’s also a very well-behaved and expertly crafted single malt so no odd notes to put newbies off.

Tasting

It has a good mouth feel (despite the fact that it's chill filtered) and that 43% makes all the difference.

Lovely rich honey and malt cake with some mild sweet smoked paprika. (It's not a peat smoke or wood but rather a sweet smoked spice if you understand what I mean?) Yellow apples and sugared pastry, stewed tropical fruit, golden treacle and juicy sultanas, heather honey, walnuts and silky spices.

Finish

Medium length finish which I think would be much shorter if it wasn't for the full 15 Years of maturation. I've had young Dalwhinnies and they can be, shall we say, quite challenging. Some Single Malts reach their sweet spot at 12 Years. Others at 14. I'd say they got it just right when they decided on 15 years.

A slight peatiness which seems to give this whisky a bit of momentum which carries all those flavours in the mouth for a few seconds longer. There is a slight sweet honey waxiness on the back of the throat with sugared walnuts, along with Yellow apple tarts and sweet spices. The finish is certainly far more impressive than one would have initially surmised.

 

Conclusions

If this expression would see a price drop of 100 Shekels here in Israel then I’d expect it to be instantly very popular as it has everything the average casual Whisky drinker looks for. In the UK where the price is around £35 and around $65 in the US, the Dalwhinnie 15 deservedly has a lot of loyal fans. But at its current price here in Israel, people will continue to pass it by on the shelf and go for something else cheaper or more exotic.