Review #800 - Dallas Dhu (Gordon & Macphail) 12 Year
Dallas Dhu is a closed distillery, though it is set to reopen imminently; it ceased production back in 1983, and it's been dormant, living as a museum, for the last 40 or so years. The distillery is located in Speyside, in the town of Forres; nowadays, it isn't easy to get ahold of their spirit due to that long gap in production. There are a few independent bottlers that still have casks though.
Here's an example from Gordon & MacPhail (G&M), but this isn't a recent bottling - this Dallas Dhu single malt was bottled, as far as we can tell, in the early 1990s, meaning it was likely distilled in the late 1970s or early 1980s based on that 12 year age statement. This bottling was part of G&M's 'Distillery Labels' series, which created a sort of 'core range' of single malts from distilleries which would not typically have produced their own range.
Like most single malts bottled back before the turn of the millennium, this whisky has a strength of 40% ABV; despite that, we're hoping to see how the character of this older whisky compares to more modern Scotch single malts.
Dallas Dhu (Gordon & MacPhail) 12 Year
Scotland/Speyside - Single Malt
Price: USD 135 (2024)
Age Statement: 12 Years
Strength: 40% ABV
Details: Bottled 1990s
Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 3 times over 10 months; bottles at 80%, 60%, and 50% (blind tasting) fill levels at times of review. Tasted in a nosing glass each time, rested 15+ minutes
Nose: Very musty, a little bit funky and perfumed. A lot of old-school character like musty malt with vegetal accents, old grains, and a soft floral note. Sweetness comes from honeyed oats, stone fruit and bright grapefruit, a hint of raisin; time brings sawdust, whipped feta dip, and just a whiff of caramel.
Palate: The mouthfeel is medium-thin, but there's a nice velvety texture to this - soft but pleasant. Very malty and musty, a little bit waxy, and we get some hints of peach, lemon-lime soda, and a spice like licorice. Butterscotch, sweet cream, and soft savory notes of pork are interesting accents... fizz, grape skins, and black pepper, too.
Finish: Malty with soft spices, light tannic oak, and salty notes, like a salted pretzel. It's oily but soft, and we get hay or dried grass, a little umami note, and some more vegetal accents. Graham crackers and floral notes linger in the aftertaste, which has a medium length.
Final Note: This Dallas Dhu single malt just tastes different when compared to just about any modern whisky. The closest modern comparison we can think of is Springbank due to a few similarities we found, such as funky malt, licorice, and good complexity; still, even that isn't a great comparison, and there's no noticeable peat smoke here. This G&M bottling is full of character, but it's also quite subtle at times - unsurprising given the minimum bottling strength.
There's good complexity here, though, in spite of the strength. Savory notes, malty grains, bright fruits, salt, a bit of spice - really nice and varied across our tastings, it's a bottle we can come back to again and again. This is a good single malt.
Value is a bit tricky, and our usual ratio of score to price doesn't make as much sense in this scenario. Our raw value score is a bit below average at 5.59 out of 10, but that doesn't take into account the rarity of a bottle from a closed distillery like this, or the fact that this was actually bottled more than 30 years ago at this point. The easiest place to get a bottle like this is at auction, and pricing there can vary wildly; we picked this bottle up for $135, and we would happily pay that again considering the provenance and interesting flavors in this bottle.
Our Rating: 7.2 / 10
In the current whisky landscape of increasing prices and variable quality, we've added a value rating to our reviews that relates to the score and the available pricing of each whisky. This roughly equates to a 0-10 scale; no reviews so far have exceeded a score of 10, although it is technically possible for the formula to produce a value rating higher than 10 with a high enough score and low enough price.
Value Rating: 5.59
About Us: We're a husband and wife review team living in the Midwest United States. Generally, our reviews and tasting notes will be a compilation of both of our experiences with a whisky over several tasting sessions.
