A trio of Dailuaine


August 19, 2026

A trio of Dailuaine

What can we tell you about Dailuaine, other than that Charles Doig was heavily involved in its construction? I know this because we have a period engraving of the distillery plans at WF headquarters… Right, let’s do a proper little vertical… (Bovril)

Dailuaine 5 yo 2020/2025 (61%, The Whisky Exchange, Zodiac: Taurus, first-fill Pedro Ximenez, cask # 312947, 489 bottles)

What’s good when you come across malts this young is that they teach you that the Distillery was active fairly recently. Yep. Colour: full gold. Nose: we should have guessed this was going to be lovely, otherwise they wouldn’t have bottled it at this rather unsellable age (no ten, no deal). Very lovely touches of Bovril, roots, gentian, old balsamic vinegar, and more palo cortado than PX. Or let’s say ‘cream’, and we’re talking high-standard ‘cream’ here, because those do exist. Then some cured ham. With water: the mushrooms are pushing their way out of the neck! The other day I tasted an extraordinary porcini candyfloss that this reminds me of. An absolute killer. Mouth (neat): rich indeed, almost on mushroom and leek broth, then ginger and an umami side that just keeps growing. Orange marmalade keeps watch over the whole thing. With water: excellent, but increasingly on Williams pear eau-de-vie. That’s youth, it never lies. Finish: long, on candied pear, eau-de-vie, and dried bolete powder, an extraordinary condiment. Comments: absolutely excellent. At five years old!
SGP:562 - 87 points.

Dailuaine 13 yo 2013/2026 (5.1%, Dràm Mor, Portuguese red wine finish, cask #302722, 282 bottles)

Red wine is of course a little frightening (Duero/Douro?), but we know that at Dràm Mor they know how to handle this kind of slightly dodgy business, don’t we? Colour: apricot. Nose: we could almost call this a rosé whisky, what with all those raspberries, peonies and redcurrants showing off, rather in the manner of a crémant or champagne rosé. What’s quite crazy is that none of it clashes, at least not so far. With water: rye bread and ground barley are holding their ground, but there are indeed some dried fruits, especially the apricot already mentioned. Mouth (neat): proper rosé whisky, I swear. Black pepper, pink peppercorns, artichoke and red pepper, stalks, skins… With water: a few notes of fruit sweets, strawberries, blackcurrants, raspberries… Plus some curious notes of agave syrup. Finish: long, more on a slightly improbable duo of aubergine and blackcurrant, with some pleasantly tart blood orange in the signature. Comments: we feared the worst, but it works.
SGP:661 - 84 points.

Pure bourbon please…

Dailuaine 23 yo 2002/2025 (57%, The Whisky Blues, 1st fill bourbon barrel, cask #29, 211 bottles)

These labels are still as beautiful as ever and still remind me just as much of Klek, the mad drummer from Angine de Poitrine. Colour: pale gold. Nose: here comes the fatness, the sulphur (sulphur from the distillate), the shoe polish, also bitter orange and wonderful whiffs of fresh hay stuffed with flowers. Behind all that, cement, grist, plaster, chalk. With water: it gets even tighter, on slate, paraffin and herbs, but it works perfectly. Mouth (neat): perfect! Lemon, chalk, mandarin, grey pepper, basta cosi. With water: very beautiful, precise to the millimetre, just rubbery enough, and packed with clays and rather tart citrus fruits. Finish: long, fresh and fat at the same time, very much on citron, even slightly soapy ‘in a good way’. Comments: a mixture of explosiveness and almost Calvinistic seriousness. Perhaps slightly intellectual, as we sometimes say without the slightest restraint… when we don’t know what else to say. Seriously, this is excellent.
SGP:561 - 89 points.

Check the index of all Dailuaine we've tasted