Dalmore King Alexander III Review

Hi everyone,

Here’s a great tactic: 

You make up/find some Game of Thrones-esque story about royalty/hunting/other expensive sounding stuff. 

You find a load of Dalmore that has come from every different type of barrel/cask/butt and drum you can find and you blend the hell out of it like a boss. 

You put said whisky in a bottle, which you put in a fancy box but water down to 40% and add loads of colouring. Do NOT put an age statement on it for God’s sake.

Most importantly, you slap a big price on it to make sure that people think old whisky must be in it and you get maximum profits.

And there you pretty much have the recipe for Dalmore King Alexander III in my mind.

I tried to put all of that aside for a moment to actually just assess the whisky.

Dalmore King Alexander III 40%

Colour: Amber (But coloured I think)

Body: Medium

Nose: A fruity style of course but with lots of bakery notes too. Baking, rising dough, cinnamon, blackberry and blueberry, a yeasty note.

Taste: Soft, light and ‘smooth’ arrival, then more fruity with blackcurrant, freshly made dough, cinnamon, baker’s yeast, building unbalanced oak coming through and going into the finish.

Finish: Medium length. Stays alive actually with fruity dark berry and oak.

I was surprised with this actually. I was expecting a complete mess with the flavours all over the place but actually it’s not bad. However, a not bad whisky for £150 is just a joke really.

71/100

Review #261

Network Average: 76.0

Best Score: 92

Worst Score: 44

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just about OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

Dalmore Cigar malt Review

Hi everyone,

Another Dalmore after the vertical the other day, this was tasted at the airport, so didn't have time to make proper notes.

Dalmore Cigar Malt 44%

Colour: E150a

Body: Medium

Nose: Big, honeyed, very sweet honey, orange, milk chocolate, brown sugar, creamy oak, more honey.

Taste: Soft arrival, honey, malt, Sherry, more honey, chocolate.

Finish: Medium/Long. Chocolate orange.

I actually liked this more than the 15yo and 18yo.
72/100

Review #143

Dalmore Vertical: 12yo, 15yo, 18yo & Signatory 1990

Dalmore… 

Just the name evokes… premium. The magic word in whisky really. Well, in reality Dalmore is super-premium and ultra-premium. The whisky for the Ferrari driving masses. It makes the people buying it look like they have money and are rather stylish, much like said Ferrari.

For the whisky enthusiast, Dalmore is a bit of a dirty word. Overpriced and lacking in craft, it’s a brand that has been really trying a bit too hard to be the whisky for the guy with more money than sense (just look at the Constellation collection!). It’s also probably why Macallan went in the same direction. Or did Dalmore follow Macallan...?

Enough. Here’s my reviews:

Dalmore 12 year old 40%

Colour: E150a

Body: Medium

Nose: Honey and Sherry. Lots of chocolate orange.

Taste: Sherry and vanilla, oranges and dark chocolate. Chocolate orange.

Finish: Short length. Gentle with sweetness and caramel.

69/100

Dalmore 15 40%

Colour: E150a

Body: Light/Medium

Nose: Sweet, honey, caramel, sherry, light pastry/biscuit note, stewed fruit- Apple, blackcurrant and plum, vanilla, some spice. Very Dalmore.

Taste: Initial sherry and honey sweetness then building dry spice with oak. Cinnamon bark. Less fruity than the nose- Apple and blackcurrant crumble.

Finish: Medium length. Woody, oaky and spicy.

Notes: More oaky and dry but less bitter than the 18. Same score though.
71/100

Dalmore 18 year old 43%

Colour: E150a

Body: Medium

Nose: Fruity with port, blueberry, tonnes of fruit and creaminess.

Taste: Similar to the nose. Lacking in mouthfeel. Blueberry, blackberry, plum. Quite bitter, especially into the finish.

Finish: Short/Medium length. Very bitter with lots of plum.

71/100

A natural one to finish, please!

Dalmore 1990 Signatory Cask Strength Collection 57.7%

Image courtesy of Master of Malt

Colour: Light Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Strong alcohol. Yeasty and malty. Rising bread, warm dough, lemony citrus, raspberry vodka, floral- Buttercups, orange chocolate, chocolate biscuit and herbal fruit tea.

Water: More lemon and citrus, some lime developing, clotted cream, cream tea (Raspberry jam, scones and cream), lemon drizzle cake, lemon fancies. All sorts of lemony, cakey, tarty things!

Taste: Sherry, sweet fruit, orange marmalade, lemon sherbet, a biscuity note.

Water: Orange peel, brown sugar, lots of dark chocolate, raspberry, a little blackberry, cream, Creme Brulee, vanilla, lemon curd.

Finish: Very Short length. Gone, it's just gone!

With water the finish becomes a short length. Doughy with some lingering sweetness and coffee.

Notes: Distilled 1990, bottled 2012. 22yo from a refill Sherry cask. Multiple refill I think. Bit of time, bit of water and this opens up nicely.

73/100

Reviews #134-#137

Network Average: 74.7

Best Score: 91

Worst Score: 44

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent