Dalmore

DALMORE DISTILLERY THE KING, A CHARGING STAG AND THE CLAN MCKENZIE

Any whisky appreciated by Luke Skywalker, Samuel L Jackson and a Kingsman must be a bit special. Fans of popular culture will recognise the references to the first Kingsman film, when an attempted rescue by a Kingsman of the kidnapped professor, played by Hamill, goes wrong as Jackson and his henchwoman turn up. Everyone takes time to sip on a 1962 Dalmore and, really, why wouldn’t you? After all, the last time a bottle was sold was 2011, when it fetched a mere £125,000.

The Dalmore Distillery, located at Alness, 30 kilometers north of Inverness, was constructed back in 1839 by Alexander Matheson, and immediately leased to the Sutherland family. Then from 1869, the Mackenzie brothers took up the lease – the iconic 12-point stag crest of the family has been retained and is seen on every bottle of Dalmore. The crest dates back to the 13th century when Colin, chief of the Mackenzie clan, saved King Alexander III of Scotland from a charging stag and was granted the right to the crest.

The distillery was a success, though it hit some problems when, in 1917, the Royal Navy started using the next door firth for producing deepsea mines. An incident in 1920, incident being a euphemism for ‘massive explosion and subsequent fire’, destroyed most of the distillery. Lawyers became involved, and the matter even went to the House of Lords. Production recommenced in 1922. In 1960, the Mackenzie family finally sold to one of their main customers, Whyte & Mackay.

Dalmore produced a single, single malt for many years, their 12-Year-Old, but more recently, the range has expanded to include 15, 18 and 25-Year-Old malts, several no-age whiskies and some stunning prestige releases. These are highly regarded by collectors and aficionados, and often bring seriously high prices, sometimes five, even six, figures. Put simply, Dalmore is considered to be one of the very finest of all Highland distilleries.

The distillery has four washes in two sizes (three at 13,000 litres and one double that), four stills (again varying sizes with one twice the size of the others) and a capacity of 4,200,000 litres. Water comes from the River Alness. Maturation takes place in American white oak bourbon casks and also aged sherry casks from Gonzalez Byass, hand-selected by Master Distiller Richard Paterson. It is believed that these sherry casks give the whiskies their characteristic nutty, spicy, citrus and ginger notes, while the bourbon casks provide more vanilla, honey and tropical fruit touches. ‘The Mackenzie’, one of their many prestige releases, sees time in aged port pipes from Oporto.

Consider some of these releases and it becomes obvious why they are so highly desired and achieve such impressive prices. The ‘Trinitas’ is a 64 -Year-Old single malt, blended from some of the world’s rarest whiskies from 1868, 1878, 1926 and 1939. Only three bottles were made, with each selling for between £100,000 and £120,000. ‘Eos’ was a blend of two sherry casks from 1951, as was the ‘Selene’. ‘Sirius’ is also from the 1951 vintage, but only twelve decanters were made. The ‘Oculus’ is even rarer. A blend of malts from 1868, 1878, 1922, 1926, 1939 and 1951, only one single bottle, as a Baccarat crystal decanter, was produced. There are plenty more prestige whiskies in their portfolio.

Dalmore has more than earnt is reputation as one of the very great Scottish distilleries. ADDRESS: Dalmore Alness, Highlands and Islands, Alness IV17 0UT, Scotland T: +44 1349 882362 W: www.thedalmore.com OPENING HOURS: Individual appointments Book online TOUR DETAILS AND PRICING: £8.00