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The Dalmore Quintessence Whisky Gets Five Red Wine Casks Finish

The new The Dalmore Quintessence is a limited edition Scotch whisky which saw some of its maturation occur in five different ex-California red wine casks.
  • Nino Kilgore-Marchetti, founder of The Whiskey Wash, is an award-winning whiskey journalist, expert, and judge
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The Dalmore is a Scotch whisky distillery known for its super extensive wine cask finishing process. While that often means ex-sherry cask maturation, The Dalmore does occasionally branch off into more unique variants, which can prove potentially exciting. It is into this territory it has strayed again, recently revealing the limited edition The Dalmore Quintessence, a five red wine casks finished bottling.
The Dalmore Quintessence, according to the distillery, is a non-age statement expression, bottled at 90 proof, which was initially matured in typical ex-bourbon barrels. From there it gets much more interesting, as it was split across five hand-selected California red wine casks which had previously held Zinfandel, Pinot Noir, Syrah, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon. These casks were then placed within The Dalmore’s Warehouse No. 2 to “impart their distinctive characteristics into the whisky.”
The Dalmore Quintessence
The Dalmore Quintessence (image via The Dalmore)

The Damore master distiller Richard Paterson then waited five years for the individual casks to age before blending them together into the final release. Limited tasting notes for Quintessence, which prices at £1000 (around $1,300 USD), describe a bottling that has “a complex style, with notes of red fruits and soft spices, leather, caramel, dried fruits and almond, ending with a lick of oak and lovely length.”

“The Dalmore has a unique new make spirit and maturation conditions,” said Paterson in a prepared statement. “This inspires me to push the art of the possible with The Dalmore. Quintessence has been a long-term project which I am delighted to share with the world. It is a combination of two of my great passions, The Dalmore distillery and exceptional red wine.”

More details about The Dalmore Quintessence can be learned below via a short video.

Nino Kilgore-Marchetti

Nino Kilgore-Marchetti is the founder of The Whiskey Wash, an award-winning whiskey lifestyle website dedicated to informing and entertaining consumers about whisk(e)y globally. As a whisk(e)y journalist, expert, and judge, he has written extensively about the subject, been interviewed in various media outlets, and provided tasting input on many whiskeys at competitions.

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