Is Perfection Boring?
jamstudio.uk.com/projects/commercial/the-dalmore
On today's men, another whisky that seems to split the whisky community in half: time for yet another "love or hate" dram.
I'm talking of course about the 2012 re-release of the popular Cigar Malt, now called the Cigar Malt Reserve. This second coming of the crowd favorite got quite a lot of flak from the fans the old whisky.
Though I'm not sure why Dalmore withdrew this whisky in the first place at the dawn of the NAS single malt era. I'm guessing it had something to do with the name, propably due to the pc-environment or even pressure from the anti-tobacco lobby.
Anyhow popular outrage among the Dalmore crowd brought this whisky back from the dead, be it that the distillers tweaked the recipe a bit.
So how about all the widespread critique? Are we whisky reviewers just a bit too grumpy and unwilling to accept change. Or maybe there is some valid criticism here: the general consensus is that this whisky is maybe a tad too fabricated and the overabundance of caramel colouring is affecting the palate.
Nose: Sherry obviously, some citrussy notes: sugared lemon, notes of cherry snaps, chocolate and warm notes from the wood. Some slightly chemical undertones (some would call it artificial).
Mouth: Clean and smooth, overall superior notes of sherry, some subdued woody tones, hints of toffee and white chocolate.
Finish: surprisingly ever so slightly bitter and drying, but also zesty with a spicy edge in the tail.
Its only sin might be that it is just a bit too boring. My educated guess is that the distillers were aiming for the perfectly balanced whisky, but by trying to do it all right, it turned into a whisky, that is simply a bit bland: no secret layers, no original flavours.
But still the better dram when compared to the 12yo entry level whisky, thumbs up.
The Whisky
http://www.thewhiskyexchange.com/P-16650.aspx
Nose: Sherry obviously, some citrussy notes: sugared lemon, notes of cherry snaps, chocolate and warm notes from the wood. Some slightly chemical undertones (some would call it artificial).
Mouth: Clean and smooth, overall superior notes of sherry, some subdued woody tones, hints of toffee and white chocolate.
Finish: surprisingly ever so slightly bitter and drying, but also zesty with a spicy edge in the tail.
The Verdict
Intensely smooth, a sherry monster without any rough edges, an easy sipper perfect in its simplicity,… blablabla.Its only sin might be that it is just a bit too boring. My educated guess is that the distillers were aiming for the perfectly balanced whisky, but by trying to do it all right, it turned into a whisky, that is simply a bit bland: no secret layers, no original flavours.
But still the better dram when compared to the 12yo entry level whisky, thumbs up.
