Dram Mor - Dailuaine 13 Year - Portuguese Red Wine Cask
DRAM MOR DAILUAINE 13 YEAR OLD, PORTUGUESE RED WINE CASK Speyside muscle meets Portuguese red wine · single cask, 312 bottles Region Speyside Distillery Dailuaine Age 13 years ABV 53.1% Cask 1st Fill Portuguese Red Wine Cask Outturn 312 bottles Dailuaine makes one of the heaviest, most full-bodied spirits in Speyside, which is exactly why you almost never see it: Diageo routes nearly the whole production into blends like Johnnie Walker, where that muscle does its work invisibly. Dram Mor's own label calls it "a rich and velvety mouthfeel with plenty of dried fruit and chocolate notes," and a weighty malt like that can carry a big cask. Here it got one. After maturing in oak, this 13 year old was finished in a first fill Portuguese red wine cask, wrapping the distillery's dried fruit and chocolate character in dark berry fruit and wine-soaked spice. Single cask #302722, bottled at a cask strength of 53.1%, non-chill filtered, natural colour, 312 bottles worldwide. The Whiskey Lab's allocation is 60 bottles. Imported by The Whiskey Lab. About Dram Mor Dram Mor (Gaelic for "big dram") is the independent bottler founded in 2019 by husband and wife team Kenny and Viktorija Macdonald in Dumbarton, Scotland, where Kenny's grandfather was head foreman at Hiram Walker's Dumbarton distillery. What began as an export agency for Scottish brands became a family of single cask bottlers with one simple rule: choose individual casks that showcase the best of every whisky, and bottle them at cask strength, non-chill filtered, at natural colour. Their casks now reach some 25 countries, Michelin-starred restaurants included. This is Dram Mor's first release with The Whiskey Lab. Distillery profile, Dailuaine Founded in 1852 by William Mackenzie; the name is Gaelic for "the green vale," after its site in a hollow by the Spey near Aberlour. Once Speyside's largest and most innovative distillery, it was the first in the region to sport the now-iconic pagoda roof over its malting floors. Owned by Diageo, with almost the entire output used as a full-bodied base for blends such as Johnnie Walker. Official single malt releases are few and far between. The house style is heavy and muscular for Speyside: rich, velvety, dried fruit and chocolate, per Dram Mor's own label. The cask Portugal's red wines, from the Douro and beyond, are famous for depth: dark berries, plums, firm tannin and warm spice. A cask that spent years holding wine like that carries all of it into the finish. As a first fill wine cask, this one had its full character intact when the 13 year old Dailuaine went in. Red wine casks trade the sweetness of sherry for something drier and more vinous: berry fruit, grape skin and gentle tannic grip. Paired with Dailuaine's chocolate-and-dried-fruit weight, that makes for a dark, wintry Speysider at 53.1%. One cask, 312 bottles, 60 of them allocated to the US through The Whiskey Lab. Specification Details Brand Dram Mor Whisky style Single malt Scotch whisky, single cask Region Speyside Distillery Dailuaine Age 13 years ABV 53.1% Volume 700 ml Cask Matured in oak, finished in a 1st fill Portuguese red wine cask Cask number 302722 Outturn 312 bottles Cask strength Yes Non-chill filtered Yes Natural colour Yes Availability Open release