Dalmore Cigar Malt Reserve, 44% abv.

This bottling is the second "edition". The first "edition" was the Cigar Malt released more than a decade ago. It was designed to be consumed with a cigar, which confused many consumers since no one had heard of cigar malt as a base for whisky and a majority of the drinkers didn't drink it with a cigar, or had ever smoked a cigar for that matter. The Dalmore Cigar Malt was discontinued around 2009, but then brought back a few years later. The second coming of the Cigar Malt came with the addition of "Reserve", a more standardized label, and was a blend of Bourbon, Matusalem Sherry, and Cabernet Sauvignon casks of at least 12 years old, but supposedly slightly older juices were used.

Nose: sherry notes more towards PX (Not that I can really distinguish), hints of strawberries and other backseat berries, slight hint of lemon zest, with time minor notes of young tofu appear.

Palate: slightly dry, sweet with a young tofu taste. Wood and a candy-like sweetness appears with more sips.

Finish: short, residual young tofu.

First time I was able to taste a sweet flavor with that young tofu taste, or perhaps separate it. It was also the first time that young tofu-like flavor leads to a very sweet flavor. Very interesting flavor profile as I could taste many things going on. Definitely not a normal Scotch and I can respect that. I do wish there was more on the finish though. I didn't smoke a cigar while drinking this nor do I smoke. Had this at Bar 31B, Seoul, South Korea.

Grade: B-

Whiskyanalysis.com, 8.32 ± 0.64 on 12 reviews
Malt maniacs, Keith Wood, 86
Malt maniacs, Ralf Mitchell, 70
Whisky advocate, Gavin Smith, 92 points
Lawhiskeysociety, average, B-

Image courtesy of Eric Yee.

Eric Yee

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