Colour: Bright amber.
Nose: Sweet on the nose with honey and ripe fruits like peach, red apple and banana. This is accompanied by creamy vanilla and candyfloss. In the background discreet spicy notes of oak and cinnamon. Very captivating.
Palate: Just as sweet and fruity on the palate with peach, pineapple and banana. Warming spices spread with notes of cinnamon, oak and some ginger, lingering with creamy honey and vanilla towards the finish.
Finish: The finish shows a beautiful length with warming and creamy notes of vanilla, oak spice, slightly bitter orange peel, passion fruit and a touch of grapefruit.
With water: After adding a few drops of water, even more tropical fruit aromas appear on the nose, paired with vanilla, some oak and ginger spice. On the palate very sweet with vanilla, creamy notes of tropical fruit and a hint of slightly warming spices. The finish is still long lasting, slightly warming with additional milk chocolate and a touch of hazelnut.
Comments: An intoxicatingly fruity and wonderfully sweet dram in beautiful balance with pleasantly warming spices. This is how beautiful single malt from the Speyside can taste, which has matured in a sherry cask for only a decade. The ceramic bottle is a very special eye-catcher, too.

I thank Douglas Laing for the photograph!

Colour: Straw to pale gold.
Nose: Fruity start on the nose with apricots and white peaches, followed by vanilla and a touch of honey. With time tropical notes of ripe banana develop, nicely mingling with tender zesty lime, toffee and gentle oak in the back. A very pleasant nose indeed.
Palate: Sweet on the palate with caramel and vanilla but very spicy at the same time, too. Warming with black pepper, oak spice and subtle cloves. Once the warmth fades, the fruitiness arrives with apricots, peaches and bananas, followed by a touch of minerality towards the finish.
Finish: The finish is medium long, clean and creamy. Subtle sweet with caramel and fruit jam. Gets a bit drier on the tail with fine oak and a whiff of mint.
With water: Quite fresh on the nose when a few drops of water are added. While notes of vanilla and yellow fruit remain stable, more oak is coming through. Quite spicy on the palate with loads of oak, cracked black pepper, cloves and a touch of mint. Very dry, too. Maybe there's some fruit behind this wall of spices but my taste budds don't recognize it. The finish shows good length. Very warming and significantly dry with oak, cloves and a hint of lemon on the tail.
Comments: Oh, I'm really surprised. This young Dailuaine has a gorgeous nose. The finish in a rum barrel provides pleasant tropical fruit aromas, which harmonize very well with the vanilla sweetness and warming spiciness. Surprisingly spicy on the palate, with the 46% abv feeling much stronger to me. Towards the warming end the delicate tropical fruit components return. Very spicy and dry with water. This young Dailuaine is definitely worth more than a try. An enjoyable example of this little seen Speyside distillery.

I thank myDrams for the sample and the photograph!

Colour: Deep gold.
Nose: A pleasant nose with toffee, milk chocolate and warming spices. Sweet notes of prunes, raisins and X-mas pudding emerge, followed by spiced oak and fine cinnamon in the back. Needs some time to develop its full aroma.
Palate: Lovely creamy on the palate with caramel, butterscotch and subtle dried cherries. This is well balanced with a sweet spiciness of oak, cinnamon and tender clove. Buttery and slightly warming towards the finish.
Finish: The finish is medium long, clean and creamy. Sweet with Demerara sugar, getting a bit drier on the tail with subtle oak.
With water: Water even softens the nose with lots of creamy toffee, chocolate and butterscotch. Sweet and very buttery on the palate with plenty of toffee, but also a somewhat increased spiciness of cinnamon, clove and white pepper. The finish is medium long, creamy with toffee and Demerara sugar. Very sweet but getting drier and woody on the tail.
Comments: Although having spent only 7 years maturing in a sherry butt, this Dailuaine already shows a well balanced mixture of creamy sweetness and woody spiciness. The sherry cask isn't overpowering at all remaining the distillery character coming through in a lovely way. An attractive and very tasty example of a little seen distillery.

I thank Douglas Laing for the sample and the photograph!