North Star Spirits – Dalmunach 6yr

2016 56.4%

Dalmunach is a relatively new distillery, with construction only being completed in 2015. It's based in the Speyside region in a place called Carron, and is flanked by the River Spey.

Their first spirit was produced in 2014, and their first whisky appeared in 2018. They also installed a fascinating octagonal spirit safe.

The Dalmunach being reviewed here is a 6yr whisky that's been bottled by North Star Spirits. Having matured for 6 years in a Port hogshead, only 285 bottles have been made available at a strength of 56.4%. And judging by the colour of the liquid, the cask was more active than a Tory MP 2 weeks before a General Election.

Appearance: Deep ruby verging on Ribena. It looks more like a glass of port than a whisky. Long & thin oily legs.

Nose: A bucket-full of sultanas, over-ripe fruit, and rich, unctuous port. It's all sweetness and pudding with a flashing neon sign that says "club diabetes"

There's also a nice BBQ'd meatiness in the background like spare ribs sprinkled with Chinese 5-spice.

Palate: Initially, it's drier than the nose suggests with a peppery crackle, and then the sweetness runs up from behind at full force. With the sweetness, it carries gentle dry tannins that display gentle liquorice-forward notes (natural liquorice stick rather than liquorice candy)

Roasted maltiness, dry glass, more sweetness and undiluted berry cordial linger.

Finish: Medium-long with oily sweetness and a nutty coating.

Water adds...

Bran flakes and more fruit on the nose. Dusty dryness and more candied fruit on the palate.

Conclusion: This is not small. For a 6-year-old whisky, it's like a fully geared-up, angry boiled sweet.

I'm not that familiar with this distillery, but after buying a bottle of this, I'm intrigued with what they can do and I'd like to try something that hasn't been in such an influential cask like Ruby Port. That said, this liquid is unbelievable to finish an evening off as an after-dinner offering. It's quite massive and one that you end up thinking about.

Kudos (again), to Bearded-Shellsuit-trainer man for taking the plunge to release something like this.

Big thanks to Andy "what's a meme" Hirst for sourcing me a bottle of this from his online store Whiskytree. Superstar.