Dailuaine, Act II


November 5, 2025

Dailuaine, Act II

Yesterday was an absolute treat, the Special Release was excellent, with special mentions for Watashi and the two Ukrainian editions! Let’s keep going…

Dailuaine 2012/2024 (48.9%, The Firkin Whisky Co., oloroso and amontillado, cask #SC37)

This baby was matured (or finished?) in a custom double oak cask made from ex-bourbon staves and virgin French oak, then seasoned with oloroso and amontillado sherry. Quite the kitchen recipe... Colour: gold. Nose: once again, we’re in shoe polish territory, with a touch of sulphur, quickly counterbalanced by green pepper, alongside the proverbial walnuts and a hint of mustard. In short, it’s very amontillado, as expected. Mouth: very firm, even more 'amontillado' at this point, with a saline touch over walnuts, again a bit of mustard, perhaps even capers, before more green pepper emerges. We rather like this very dry, Jerez-style profile, especially as any stray sulphur notes have long since vanished. Finish: fairly long, on green walnuts and a drop of seawater. From the mouth of the Guadalquivir, naturally. Comments: a real treat for lovers of bone-dry sherry, among whose ranks we firmly count ourselves.
SGP:461 - 86 points.

Dailuaine 13 yo 2008/2022 (46%, Hepburn’s Choice, sherry butt)

Colour: full gold. Nose: a similar arrival to the previous one, with puffs of spent matches and shoe polish, gradually offset by bitter orange, old walnuts, and some chalky albariza-style earth (naturally). Mouth: this time the sulphury side remains, mixed with lemon juice and green walnut, which almost sends a shiver down your spine, I assure you. Slightly on the sour side. Finish: fairly long, dry, more peppery and nutmeggy. The rounder side of the sherry, with dried raisins, barely appears except in the aftertaste. Comments: not bad at all, though likely even more polarising than the previous one.
SGP:461 - 81 points.

Dailuaine 12 yo 2011/2023 (52.1%, The Whisky Exchange, Seasons: Autumn, rejuvenated hogshead, cask #316960)

Colour: white wine. Nose: it’s the fats and oils coming through this time, especially sunflower oil, followed by almond milk and marzipan. All rather lovely. With water: fresh white bread and a bit of damp earth. Vanilla sits at its contractual minimum. Mouth (neat): pink grapefruit and lemon sweets lead the charge, to our great delight. Timut pepper and that same fairly oily texture. With water: just very good—barley syrup with lemon juice, a touch of light honey and a hint of bitter almond. Finish: fairly long, quite fresh, ultra-balanced. Comments: this one, you could drink a lot of. A lot of.
SGP:551 - 86 points.

Dailuaine 2012/2022 (57.1%, Malts of Scotland, Corona Edition, bourbon hogshead, cask #MoS 22024, 269 bottles)

Colour: straw. Nose: this time we’re closer to beer, barley, pot ale, grape seed oil, tart little apples and crusty country bread. All things we always enjoy greatly… With water: splendid beer. I mean, splendid malt whisky. Mouth (neat): rich yet tight, saline, spicy, and full of little oily seeds, pine nuts and sesame in particular, drizzled with lemon juice. There’s even chickpea in there, so we’re practically in the presence of a near-royal houmous. With water: perfect, especially as a touch of mint, liquorice and eucalyptus appears, which suits this oily structure beautifully. Finish: not very long but fresh and highly moreish. Apple, lemon, saline touch. Comments: I’d love to cellar a bottle like this for thirty years, just to see. Reminds me a little of St Magdalene, I swear.
SGP:561 - 88 points.

Dailuaine 13 yo 2012/2025 (55.1%, Dràm Mor, refill bourbon, cask #301327, 157 bottles)

I once again extend my humble apologies to the honourable bottlers for always missing one of the accents in their name. Colour: gold. Nose: amusingly petroly touches to start, then oils again (grape seed, even some soft Provençal olives), followed by sourdough and oranges. It’s all rather lovely. With water: magnificent vegetal oils, but also something more mineral. Mouth (neat): I love it, it’s minty, peppery citrus, full of freshness and zing. A touch of hashish resin too—perhaps that’s the zing. With water: perfect, the lemons play their part to a tee, to the point where they almost seem to cut through the richness of the whole. Finish: yes, more taut, even more lemony, almost acidic, but in a delightful way. Rather like “English Champagne”, ha. Comments: a real success. I nearly added an extra point in apology for always bungling the accent, but let’s not get carried away…
SGP:651 - 88 points.

Dailuaine 10 yo 2013/2024 (57.1%, Royal Mile Whiskies, cask #311621, 314 bottles)

Colour: pale white wine, so probably a naked malt. Nose: very naked indeed, minimalist, still on those vegetal oils, peanut butter, small apples and a touch of damp chalk. With water: doesn’t move an inch—and that’s just fine. Mouth (neat): absolutely lovely, oily but taut, fresh, citrusy, slightly saline, in short, everything’s in place. With water: lime going wild, a few drops of mezcal, and a selection of peppers plus a pinch of cumin, which gives it real character. Finish: fairly long, fresh, carried by citrus and backed by the spices. Comments: yet another lovely bottle of Dailuaine. We really don’t talk about Dailuaine enough.
SGP:561 - 86 points.

Dailuaine 15 yo 2009/2024 (57.4%, Wilson & Morgan, Barrel Selection, PX sherry hogshead finish, cask #310719, 302 bottles)

Well then, they say it’s a four-year finish, which shows perfect ethics—anything over three years could’ve been called ‘maturation’, as many officials do. In truth, it’s the independents who tend to be more honest about these things, have you noticed? Colour: light gold. Nose: 80% lemon juice and 20% pineapple juice—admit it, that’s rather original—and the malt, bread, earthy tones and oils that follow are all top-drawer. The PX, for now, stays quiet at the back of the classroom. With water: ashamed to say it, but water is pointless here. It even slightly spoils it. Mouth (neat): orange and lemon liqueurs, plus green and black pepper. A cracking bit of tension, quite magnificent really. Lemon blossom honey. With water: easier, edging towards apple juice; once again, water might be superfluous here. Finish: without water, it’s perfect. With water... forget it. Comments: a superb Dailuaine, despite its mild aversion to dilution, rather like the five cats who rule Château Whiskyfun.
SGP:561 - 87 points.

Remember: dogs have owners, cats have staff. But let’s get back to Dailuaine — we’re not done yet…

Dailuaine 10 yo (46%, James Eadie, first fill bourbon and refill hogshead, casks #307072 + 313778, 754 bottles, 2021)

We do get the sense that this wee beastie is going to be both easy and excellent. You’ll say it was about time we tried it. Colour: gold. Nose: orange zest, mango smoothie, a faint basaltic touch and a bit of Play-Doh, fresh malt, IPA, and perhaps slight hints of shoe polish that would go perfectly with the boots on the label. Mouth: but how good is this! Very malty, with a faint note of toasted malt and chicory coffee, then those citrus zests come charging in, to our great delight. Light saline touches as well, once again. Finish: rather long, still on orange zest, though with a little savoury broth lurking underneath. And yet, there’s no sherry, unless that hoggie was ex-sherry. Who knows… Comments: total success, once again.
SGP:651 - 87 points.

I insist, I know it’s everywhere at the moment, maybe even a bit too much, but whisky lovers really should be paying more attention to Dailuaine, especially for its oily character.

Dailuaine 12 yo 2010/2023 (55.5%, James Eadie, cask finish, cask #369627, 325 bottles)

Dailuaine 12 yo 2010/2023 (55.5%, James Eadie, cask finish, UK exclusive, cask #369627, 325 bottles)

An 11-month finishing in first fill oloroso sherry hogshead. Colour: full gold. Nose: roasted peanuts, roasted peanuts and—roasted peanuts. In other words, it’s a bit narrow this time, though water should open things up… With water: and here come the polish and old walnuts! Mouth (neat): light peppers and earthy notes, cumin liqueur, clove, pronounced maple syrup… Let’s not exaggerate—it’s not exactly suffocating, but you get the idea. With water: clearly better, though the peppers do stage a proper coup. Finish: fairly long, rather peppery, quite herbal, a thousand times less approachable than the splendid previous one. Comments: this one’s more for the intellectuals among us.
SGP:361 - 82 points.

Since we’ve come this far…

Dailuaine 14 yo 1979 ‘The Auchtertyre’ (59.7%, The Whisky Connoisseur, The Robert Burns Collection, cask #8965, 5cl, +/-1993)

A miniature that’s been loitering at the back of the shelves at Château WF for a good twenty years or more, time to sacrifice it for the common good. Worth noting: this cask was bottled under several guises, including 35cls of ‘Balcarron’. Anyway… the fill level on the miniature is excellent and, thankfully, the cap hasn’t been lacquered. Colour: white wine. Nose: you realise straight away that the oils—vegetable and engine alike—plus that greasy sulphur à la Mortlach, were already present in 1979. The rest is nicely austere and highly distillate-driven, with apple peelings and walnut skins doing the heavy lifting. With water: even fatter now, with bits of cardboard and paraffin. Mouth (neat): hot, almost aggressive, very waxy, resinous, and totally uncompromising. We love the attitude, but one still hopes for a touch of seduction, no? With water: back to salted apples. Finish: long, full-on oils, savoury notes and green fruit skins. Not an easy one... Comments: this wee Dailuaine plays hide-and-seek—in every sense of the phrase. But at least we realise that Dailuaine’s DNA was already well in place in 1979.
SGP:462 - 82 points.

Right, we would’ve liked to carry on a bit, Dailuaine can be quite fascinating, after all but more than 20 is probably enough for now. We’ll dig deeper into the subject… later on.

Check the index of all Dailuaine we've tasted