Dalwhinnie 15 Year Old

From one of my favourite distilleries to visit, comes this 15-year-old expression. It’s the big brother to the quirky (and previously reviewed) Dalwhinnie Winter’s Gold but is a much more straightforward whisky. Where Winter’s Gold has its unusual marketing gimmick of being served ice cold, straight from the freezer (read about my experience with this here), the 15-year-old is a regular age statement, run-of-the-mill whisky. But is that a good thing? Let’s find out.

Bottle

The bottle is pretty unremarkable by today’s standards. It has the short, squat design that I normally yearn for in a whisky bottle. Yet it somehow manages this without any of the solidity or sturdiness of something like Aberlour’s or Balvenie’s bottles. The label appears unchanged for decades and, whilst this adds a touch of class and hints at the legacy of the whisky, it does look a little dated in 2024! In summary, it’s not the best but it’s not the worst!

Colour

As with most of Diageo’s historic distilleries, this whisky has caramel colouring added to it so the colour of the whisky doesn’t tell us much about the dram itself.

Nose - I left this in my glass a little longer than I do normally and was surprised at how much liquorice I get on the nose, mixed with some of the floral notes it almost smells like a small piece of tarragon. There are some cereal notes too that compliment the floral, herby and liquorice flavours beautifully.

Palate - The whisky is quite light-bodied with a hint of grassiness that sits comfortably with the sweeter, floral flavours from the nose. There is a much stronger flavour of malt and cereal here than is present on the nose, and maybe just a hint of smokiness without being distinctly peaty.

Finish - A long, nutty finish with plenty of malt lingering in the mouth for quite a while. Delicious!

Overall

Like the bottle design, I don’t think this is a champion whisky but it clearly has something about it that makes it a little more exciting than some of its contemporaries. I picked up my bottle in a sale for less than £40 and at this price, it is definitely worth the money in today’s market. I would put it in the same bracket as Glen Elgin 12 or Glenkinchie 12, it somehow straddles the Highland/Speyside bracket (if such a thing even exists). I would certainly much rather have a bottle of the 15-year-old than the Winter’s Gold (which retails for a similar price). If you pick up a bottle, let me know what you think, either in the comments or on Instagram.