Review 106 - 28 February 2021

This review comes from a sample kindly shared by Lee of Budget Drams, please checkout Lees YouTube channel and socials by visiting his Link Tree Here

Todays review looks at another of the core range whiskies from The Dalmore, this time the Port Wood Reserve Single Malt Whisky.

The Dalmore Port Wood spend most of its time maturing in ex-bourbon casks, before half the batch was transferred into Port pipes from Grahams for between 12 to 18 months, before it was vatted back with the remaining ex-bourbon matured component. The whisky doesn't come with an age statement.

It has been chill filtered and colour adjusted, however, a really good attribute is the strength, rather that going with the normal 40% or 43% which seems regular practice for a Dalmore, this release is bottled at a very healthy and frankly great to see 46.5% ABV.

The price it is available for online does vary, so it is worth shopping around for the best price, at the time of checking, the Port Wood was available as follows:

Masters of Malt £56.94
The Whisky Exchange £66.95
The Whisky World £65
Robbies Whisky Merchants £65.99

Giving an average retail price of £63.72, this brings in a value score of 85.54 out of 100, the chill filtration on this bottle causing the damage to its value and potentially its flavour.

On the nose; it comes across with rich dark fruits and plums, it has a caramel sweetness with oak. It has a typical rich port influenced nose. There is a slight tingle of artificial sweetner and citrus. I has an inviting nose, however not as rich as maybe a Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban.

On the palate; It has a level oilyness, which is sitting right on the minimum of what it can get away with, without coming across watery. The taste is fruity and nutty, maybe with a medium dry sweetness. There is some chocolate and some coffee, maybe espresso, suggesting a hint of mocha style cream quality, however the notes are seperate on the palate. There is orange pith and zest. The finish is bitter and mouthdrying, slighly tannic like a wine.

The port elements are there, however, the slightly higher than normal strength for a dalmore and sitting right at the edge of the oily versus watery texture, doesn't give this enough port influence, suggesting the ABV was selected as it was the minimum they could get away with when bottling. The port is slightly underwhelming, maybe if this spent more time in port pipes, maybe the whole batch should have been port pipe matured after some time in ex-bourbon, it would have yeilded a better port character.

With water, the plum notes disappear and more of the bourbon influence appears. It is less jammy, more citrus and oaky, the bitterness does increase with water.

For the price, this isn't a bottle we would buy, there are better Port character whiskies available, for less money, the Quinta Ruban 14 year old is superior to this and costs less, even the Famous Grouse Port Finish, given you can get 4 bottles for the price of the Dalmore, is a better proposition. This whisky needs to be closer in price to the 12 Year Old, around the £40 mark.

The Dalmore Port Wood Reserve is tasty, but it is forgettable and doesn't stand out. For an overall score we give it 85 out of 100.