Do you know which whisky company is using the most 'worm tubs' in their distilleries?
Answer: Diageo
Worm tubs restrict the copper contact on the condenser, increasing notes of sulphur and an oily mouthfeel.
One of these distilleries is Dalwhinnie, which is known for the 15 year old they've done for a while. More recently though, they've released an NAS whisky called Winter's Gold with some story about filling the casks in winter or drinking with ice. Ignore that, let's get to the whisky.
Dalwhinnie Winters Gold 43%
Colour: Diageo GoldTM
Body: Medium
Nose: Pretty classic Highland nose. Heather, honey, light spice, vanilla toffee, a tiny hint of smoke.
Taste: Soft, very honeyed, heather, sweet honey, caramel, a bit of harsh spice, ginger, light oak with toffee then a little suggestion of smoke, singed heather. Slightly oily, which saves it.
Finish: Short length. Honey with some green oak.
The just enough here to save it from mediocrity, but not nearly as good as the 15.
66/100
Now that we're here, I'll post my notes for the 15 too.
Only had it once at a bar and didn't really have time to properly assess it but here are the notes I made:
Dalwhinnie 15
Colour: Diageo GoldTM
Body: Medium
Nose: Lovely classic Highland profile. Full of honey and vanilla, slightly outdoorsy with heather.
Taste: Good mouthfeel, probably the best aspect of this one. More of the nose, honey, heather, vanilla and some spice comes through.
Finish: Medium length. The spices fade off.
Classic style, but doesn't quite have the character of Oban or some of the other Diageo classics.
72/100
Thanks for reading!
Review #332-#333
Network Average: 74.3
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
Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as a Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, I have never accepted free samples from anyone in the whisky industry, but have bought bottles or samples with my money, bringing a different set of biases. Also, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.
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