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”Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap”
Whisky Review # 967
Country: Scotland
Region: Campbeltown
Brand: Dalaruan - Classic Selection - Styled on long closed distilleries
Bottled and Blended by: The Lost Distillery Company, Kilmarnock
Type: Blended Malt Scotch Whisky
Bottled and Blended by: The Lost Distillery Company, Kilmarnock
Type: Blended Malt Scotch Whisky
Age: NAS
Alcohol By Volume (ABV): 43%
Maturation: Unknown. Said to include Sherried Wood and Rum casks
Chill Filtration: No
Price Range: US$ 45-55 (October 2022)
Price/Quality Ratio: 👍 Good effort by The Lost Distillery Company
Buying Advice: 😐 A little Thin but it captures the Campbeltown spirit
Colour: Dark Amber with shades of Orange and Brown (Natural Colour)
Nose:
A little Thin but certainly in the slightly Dirty Campbeltown style of distilleries like Kilkerran and Glen Scotia. Don't stick your Nose right away in the middle of your Glass as there is a bit of Varnish and Plastic around. Follow the rim instead to find Peaty, Fruity and Spicy notes. The Alcohol is noticeable. There are certainly a few Sherry notes around but the influence of the Rum casks is more present.
Maturation: Unknown. Said to include Sherried Wood and Rum casks
Chill Filtration: No
Price Range: US$ 45-55 (October 2022)
Price/Quality Ratio: 👍 Good effort by The Lost Distillery Company
Buying Advice: 😐 A little Thin but it captures the Campbeltown spirit
Colour: Dark Amber with shades of Orange and Brown (Natural Colour)
Nose:
A little Thin but certainly in the slightly Dirty Campbeltown style of distilleries like Kilkerran and Glen Scotia. Don't stick your Nose right away in the middle of your Glass as there is a bit of Varnish and Plastic around. Follow the rim instead to find Peaty, Fruity and Spicy notes. The Alcohol is noticeable. There are certainly a few Sherry notes around but the influence of the Rum casks is more present.
Main Aromas:
Toasted Grains, slightly Burnt Buttered Toast, Brown Sugar, Salted Caramel, Toffee, Earthy & Coastal Peat, Brine, Dried Fruit like Raisins, Apples, Dates & Plums, Citrus Peel, Mixture of Straw and Cow Manure, Dusty Oak casks in a Dunnage Warehouse, Dark Chocolate, Dried Herbs, Pepper, Ginger and Cardamom.
Toasted Grains, slightly Burnt Buttered Toast, Brown Sugar, Salted Caramel, Toffee, Earthy & Coastal Peat, Brine, Dried Fruit like Raisins, Apples, Dates & Plums, Citrus Peel, Mixture of Straw and Cow Manure, Dusty Oak casks in a Dunnage Warehouse, Dark Chocolate, Dried Herbs, Pepper, Ginger and Cardamom.
Supportive Aroma Accents:
Wax, Resin, Vanilla, Honey, Apricot-Filled Puff Pastry, Nectarine, Toasted Pineapple, Forest Floor, Wet Sand, slightly Sour (Dark) Red Berries, Varnish, Plastic, Diesel & traces of Smoked Meat, Smoldering Driftwood and Leather.
Wax, Resin, Vanilla, Honey, Apricot-Filled Puff Pastry, Nectarine, Toasted Pineapple, Forest Floor, Wet Sand, slightly Sour (Dark) Red Berries, Varnish, Plastic, Diesel & traces of Smoked Meat, Smoldering Driftwood and Leather.
Palate:
A mix of Sweet, Bitter & Sour notes. It's still a bit Thin but much more Smoky than on the Nose. It's still a little Dirty and Harsh but that's Campbeltown for ya! Quite Dry. The Alcohol is noticeable.
Main Flavours:
Toasted Grain, Caramel, Brown Sugar, Treacle, Smoldering Driftwood, Coastal and Earthy Peat, Tar, Brine, Ashes, Dried Fruit like Raisins, Apricots & Apples, Sour Red Berries, Grapefruit Juice, Orange-Flavoured Dark Chocolate, Cinnamon, Pepper and Ginger.
A mix of Sweet, Bitter & Sour notes. It's still a bit Thin but much more Smoky than on the Nose. It's still a little Dirty and Harsh but that's Campbeltown for ya! Quite Dry. The Alcohol is noticeable.
Main Flavours:
Toasted Grain, Caramel, Brown Sugar, Treacle, Smoldering Driftwood, Coastal and Earthy Peat, Tar, Brine, Ashes, Dried Fruit like Raisins, Apricots & Apples, Sour Red Berries, Grapefruit Juice, Orange-Flavoured Dark Chocolate, Cinnamon, Pepper and Ginger.
Supportive Flavour Accents:
Vanilla, Toffee, Honey, Farm, Straw, Wax, Wet Sand, Metal Coins, Nectarine, Lemon, Dusty Wood in Dunnage Warehouse, Cinnamon, Aniseed, Dried Herbs and Licorice. A hint of Tobacco.
Finish:
Middle-Long. A mix of Sweet, Bitter & Sour notes. The Bitterness increases towards the Dry end. Some Dirty Ash and Diesel remain in your mouth for a few minutes. I find Toasted Grain, Salted Caramel, Toffee, Burning & Smoldering Driftwood, Dirty Peat, Brine, Ashes, Diesel, Farm, slightly Harsh Alcohol, Sour Berries, Nutshells and Nuts, Dried Fruit like Raisins, Apples and Plums, Orange-flavoured Dark Chocolate, Espresso, Dried Herbs, Dusty Oak, Pepper, Ginger, Cinnamon, Cardamom and a bit of Licorice.
Drinking Advice:
I added a little Water and that helps to calm down the Alcohol. It does become even Thinner and the Finish becomes really Short. Still, you can carefully add a few drops to try it out.
Drinking Experience Neat: Good
Conclusion:
The Dalaruan Distillery was founded in 1825 by Charles Colville. Over the years it was expanded and modernised and by 1880 it possessed 3 Pot Stills. In 1896 a fire almost wiped out the distillery. The Water for the production was sourced from the Crosshill Loch. They used all sort of casks for maturation like Rum, Sherry, Beer and Fresh Oak. Campbeltown was called the capital of Whisky and at its peak had 34 Distilleries including Dalaruan. But the town was hit hard during the depression in the 1920's caused a/o by overproduction, the US prohibition and higher Taxes and Wages. Blenders also started to prefer using Speyside Malt in their Blends. Dalaruan was closed in 1925 and the stocks were sold. The distillery was demolished within 5 years and a Housing Estate (Parliament Place) was constructed on the premises.
Middle-Long. A mix of Sweet, Bitter & Sour notes. The Bitterness increases towards the Dry end. Some Dirty Ash and Diesel remain in your mouth for a few minutes. I find Toasted Grain, Salted Caramel, Toffee, Burning & Smoldering Driftwood, Dirty Peat, Brine, Ashes, Diesel, Farm, slightly Harsh Alcohol, Sour Berries, Nutshells and Nuts, Dried Fruit like Raisins, Apples and Plums, Orange-flavoured Dark Chocolate, Espresso, Dried Herbs, Dusty Oak, Pepper, Ginger, Cinnamon, Cardamom and a bit of Licorice.
I added a little Water and that helps to calm down the Alcohol. It does become even Thinner and the Finish becomes really Short. Still, you can carefully add a few drops to try it out.
Rating: 84 - Stars on a 1-10 scale: 7.5 (*******1/2)
Nose: 21.5 - Taste: 21 - Finish: 20.5 - Overall: 21
*** Important Note with respect to Rating.
A few of my loyal readers have pointed out that every once in a while my final Rating note does not seem to be totally in line with the written text. I recognize that. When I started this Whisky Blog back in 2011, I was not at all experienced in tasting and scoring Single Malts & Blends. Looking back I realize that during the early years I probably scored the good Whiskies too low and the not so good Whiskies too high. Ever since the beginning I try to remain consequent in my rating, always comparing the outcome to the rating of comparable whiskies in terms of quality and taste and adjusting the final rating if necessary. This might lead to the discrepancy I mentioned before. It would have been much easier if I would have chosen a simple 1-10 rating since the beginning but after having reviewed 950 whiskies it would not be wise to change the system now. I will however from now on add stars on the 1-10 scale so you will have a better idea of what I thought of the whisky reviewed. And I'm planning to only use the 1-10 scale as of January 1, 2023. Please feel free to comment!
Dalaruan now. It's called Parliament Place
The Dalaruan Distillery was founded in 1825 by Charles Colville. Over the years it was expanded and modernised and by 1880 it possessed 3 Pot Stills. In 1896 a fire almost wiped out the distillery. The Water for the production was sourced from the Crosshill Loch. They used all sort of casks for maturation like Rum, Sherry, Beer and Fresh Oak. Campbeltown was called the capital of Whisky and at its peak had 34 Distilleries including Dalaruan. But the town was hit hard during the depression in the 1920's caused a/o by overproduction, the US prohibition and higher Taxes and Wages. Blenders also started to prefer using Speyside Malt in their Blends. Dalaruan was closed in 1925 and the stocks were sold. The distillery was demolished within 5 years and a Housing Estate (Parliament Place) was constructed on the premises.
First of all I like the purpose of this Series created by Scott Watson and Brian Woods of The Lost Distillery Company. Both worked at Diageo before that. It's nice to try and recreate Single Malts from long closed distilleries based on the information still available on the Water Supply, Barley, Yeast and the distilling process. It's not easy to do that I suppose. The Dalaruan is the third in a series of six that I bought as a Sample Gift package. All with Natural Color indeed and without Chill-Filtration as it was done in the days. So far so good.
The Lost Distillery Company usually uses between 5 and 10 Single Malts to try and recreate the lost distilleries. I don't know the contents of this Blended Malt but I suspect it contains peated Malt from Glen Scotia and perhaps Kilkerran, as well as some Islay Malt. I'm almost sure I'm tasting some Bowmore here.
There's of course no way we can tell if this Blended Malt really resembles the old Dalaruan Whisky. But the Campbeltown profile is perhaps a bit easier to re-create and The Lost Distillery Company did an acceptable job here. It's the best of their series so far at least. And it's not really expensive so just try it out if you can find it, principally if you're a fan of Springbank and Glen Scotia. This Dalaruan is not as Fat and Dirty as those two but style-wise it's similar.
Cheers!
