Last Night's Tipple

If an American whiskey had spent fifteen years in barrel, it would be dark, dark, dark. You might have trouble seeing through it, even if it had been diluted down to 86 proof. Not so Scotch. Both because Scotch is aged in used barrels that have less color to impart and because the weather in Scotland is not as warm as it is in Kentucky or Tennessee and will consequently not force the aging spirit into the barrel as it will in the United States, it is not as deeply-colored as American whiskey. And Scotch producers, unlike American whiskey producers, can use caramel coloring if they wish; and most of them do wish, probably because the drinking public likes dark whiskeys. At 15 years old, Dalwhinnie is still only straw-colored in the glass. I have no doubt that the barrel has had a massive influence on the taste, smell, and character of the Scotch, but it's hard to tell it from the color.

Dalwhinnie is another of Diageo's Classic Malts and was the original representative of the Highlands region. It has a little label just under the throat of the bottle reading "The Gentle Spirit," and that moniker is accurate. Some Scotches will grab you by the throat and slap you around a bit. Dalwhinnie isn't one of them. There's some honey and smoke on the nose, and the taste is very, very sweet. With some time in the glass, the Scotch develops some nice vanilla aromas, which, along with the absence of any winey or nutty aromas or flavors, suggests that it's aged exclusively in ex-Bourbon barrels. A very enjoyable Scotch, although the price is a bit steep.