I have a lot of fondness for Dalwhinnie. Back in 2008, when I first started on my whisky journey, the Dalwhinnie 15 was the first bottle I ever bought.
I’d visited Milroy’s of Soho in London a couple of months before for a whisky tasting and it was there that my love of whisky first took root, as I’ve mentioned before on this site. When I went back and timidly asked the shopkeeper what he would recommend me to buy, he gave me a taste of a few and it was the Dalwhinnie that stood out: rich, fairly sweet, clean and not peated (for then I hated peat in whisky). It was my perfect kind of dram. I remember feeling very ‘grown up’, very indulgent getting myself something so expensive to drink.
Since that time more than seven years ago, I’ve drifted away from the distillery’s whisky – having quickly realised there were thousands more out there to try, I got distracted and it rather unfairly got lost in the “whiskies I really enjoyed in my past” pile.
Despite not having much of it, the sheer fact it was my first ever bottle immediately unearths happy memories of it. Dalwhinnie helped me on my whisky journey when I most needed it: at the crucial stage when I could have become a one-off buyer of the water of life, never to purchase again. Instead, I’ve of course ended up on a much more fruitful and fascinating adventure.
As such, my curiosity was naturally piqued when I heard about Dalwhinnie’s new release: Winter’s Gold. I can’t, necessarily, say it was piqued in a good way. Over the past couple of years, more and more fancifully named whiskies have been hitting the market, some of them good, some of them not. And while I’ve been a staunch supporter of trying whiskies before judging them, my Spidey sense was tingling when I read: “The suggested serve of Dalwhinnie Winter’s Gold is frozen.”
Frozen? A single malt? This had me intrigued.
As background, this is not the first whisky to have a serving suggestion of this type but it’s the first I know of for a single malt. Johnnie Walker Gold, for instance, and Famous Grouse Snow Grouse also made the same recommendation. Putting alcohol in the freezer does a couple of things: it helps to mask the ‘alcohol’ burn (hence why vodka is often shown being served straight from the freezer) and it makes liquid more unctuous, both of which can be appealing for stronger serves. My favourite martini is the Vesper over at Duke’s in St James’s, and all of the alcohol the team uses for its creation comes straight from the freezer (as does the glass). It’s thick, oily, rich – a most indulgent drink. But I can’t say I’ve tended towards serving my whisky this way.
I was also slightly suspicious of the release which has distillery manager Bruce Mackenzie stating: “Distilled in the depths of winter at the highest distillery in the UK, Winter’s Gold honours the influence that cold has on Dalwhinnie. Our master blender, Dr. Craig Wilson, only selects casks laid during Scottish winter months to create a golden, rich single malt whisky.”
Now, I know Dalwhinnie is one of the highest distilleries in Scotland (there is debate as to whether it actually holds that accolade) but I can’t say I was entirely won over by the concept that the whisky laid down during winter months is going to have any impact on the final whisky in a bottle. There’s also no mention if the whisky itself is chill-filtered, which is often considered a key influence on changing the mouthfeel of a whisky because it tends to strip out things like fatty acids that make the whisky go cloudy when going cold. If you’re aiming to increase that rich texture by freezing it, I wonder if simply selling a non-chill filtered version would get you partway there?
All that aside, as per usual I wanted my nose and tastebuds to do the judging. And, I have to say I was impressed. Served straight from the freezer, it was delicious: rich, oily, with just a perfect amount of sweetness balanced with a drier edge at the back of the palate. The freezing hadn’t taken away from the notes on the nose either, which was a concern of mine. There was no trace of the 43% abv, but it was still floral, fresh and appealing. It felt bolder than I recall the Dalwhinnie 15 being and I was drawn back to glass easily. Unfortunately, I do not have any Dalwhinnie 15 to hand to try it side by side, but as soon as I get some I’ll be sure to update this blog.
Despite my queries about the brand’s marketing, I am glad to say that the whisky itself is enjoyable. Still, like many other Diageo releases from its ‘Classic Malts’ distilleries, it’s being priced in higher than the main market release. Dalwhinnie 15 still sits at around £33 whereas this will be going into shops come September for £38. This was the same tactic taken for Talisker’s Skye release back in March, which is more costly than a long-time favourite of mine, Talisker 10. While no one has said that the age-statement releases are disappearing anytime soon, I can’t help but wonder if these are the beginning of a more permanent change to long-standing ranges. Only time will tell. And in the interim, both my nose and palate thoroughly enjoyed Dalwhinnie Winter’s Gold, which is a rather major point to make.
Dalwhinniw a whisky for introducing women to whisky…. ?
I think a whisky for introducing anyone to whisky, really. It’s got a lot going on without being overwhelmingly intense so you can pick up and learn a lot from it.
Hello. If you ever up in speyside ..please pop into Cardhu and ask for Buzz
If I am on shift I would give you a special tour.. And a special Dram ?
Kind regards
William. Buzz
Cheers! I will do! Great wee distillery with fantastic history!
Hi there,
Dalwhinnie is one of a few distilleries to still use wormtubs to condense the spirit. The wormtubs are just outswide the still house and are wooden vats in which a coil of copper pipe lies in cold water. Dalwhinnie had two of them, at last I saw two during the last visit in – March from the parking erea and snow was lying.
The vapours from the stills are lead from the helm through the walls in the copper pipes and are condesed outside and then flow back into the still house and the spirit safe and spirit reciever.
Because of the different temperatures of this cooling method during summer and winter you get different styles of whisky.
In former years distillers would speak of a summer and a winter distillation. If they used wormtubs that is. Lacking cooling water was sometimes a reason to stop distilling in summer.
Some years ago Diageo tried to replace the worm tubs you see today at Dalwhinnie with modern condensers but – fortunately – that changed the character of the new spirit so much it was obvious it would change the Dalwhinnie and they at once went back to wormtubs.
If the Winters Gold is only from winter distillate it will be different from the usual Dalwhinnie 15yo and to make this point absolutely clear one would need the standard Dalwhinnie 15yo which is a mixture of summer and winter casks of course, a 15yo summer and an 15yo winter distillation to see the differences. Unfortunately the decided to make Winters Gold NAS so comparison is impossible.
Greetings
kallaskander
Fascinating Kallaskander! I knew there used to be differences between winter and summer distillations but – from visits to other distilleries – thought most tried to regulate that, even if they were using worm tubs, by controlling the water running through the tubs. I’ve not been to Dalwhinnie so it’s most interesting feedback! Cheers!
[…] For a full review read what our favourite whisky expert, Miss Whisky, has to say… http://misswhisky.com/2015/08/04/dalwhinnie-winters-gold/ […]
How does that work exactly, serving it frozen? Do you put the bottle itself in the freezer or do you pour a glass and put only the glass in the freezer? In the latter case, do you wait until the whisky is completely frozen or do you only wait until it’s ice-cold…?
Never heard of any whisky being served frozen and it intrigues me as well, hence all the questions…
The idea is you put the bottle in the freezer. The whisky itself won’t freeze, but simply increase in density, making for a richer, creamier drink. You can do the same with vodka, gin etc. Cheers!