Jan. 29: Drammers Los Angeles - The Dalmore Launch Event!...

Hello LA Drammers!

We hope everyone is well! We’re excited to announce that our next Drammers LA event will be this Saturday, January 29th at 7pm, and a big thank you to Beks Opperman for agreeing to host us again (address: 985 McGarry Street, 90021).

We're thrilled to welcome as our guest speaker Mike Birkenheier, Single Malt Specialist for The Dalmore, for this special launch event for their newest expression - the Sherry Cask Select! It was initially a Taiwan exclusive. Whyte & Mackay had a limited release with Total Wine last year en route, and now they’re gearing up for a general retail release coming up a few days after our event (first week of February)! Don't hold us to it, but we're told this may be the first consumer event for this release in California!

Of course, we wanted to make sure to give Mike a proper Drammers welcome, so we tracked down a couple fun old Dalmore bottlings at auction, that we're guessing most of you have never tried before, plus we'll try some bottles from their core range as well. They’re providing a ton of fun stuff too, 11 expressions in all! Check out the full lineup below, it's pretty hefty, everyone will definitely want to get a ride or take an uber home. Drumroll please…

• The Dalmore - Sherry Cask Select vs. the Dalmore 12yo. The original 12 yo spends 9 years in American White Oak ex Bourbon Barrels after which about 50% of the liquid is transferred into Oloroso Sherry casks sourced from esteemed Sherry Bodega Gonzalez Byass and 50% remains in Bourbon Barrels. The liquid is then married and proofed down to 40% ABV. The Dalmore 12 yo Sherry Cask Select is initially matured in American White Oak ex Bourbon Barrels and split into 3rds and transferred into casks that previously held a proprietary assemblage of rare Oloroso Sherry and Pedro Ximenez Sherry. The liquid is then married and proofed down to 43% ABV. The expression was initially exclusive to Taiwan. Due to its success it was launched exclusively at Total Wine and More in early 2021.

• The Dalmore 18 yo side by side with Gonzalez Byass 30 yo Metusalem Oloroso Sherry. The Dalmore 18yo is initially matured in American White Oak ex Bourbon Barrels for 14 years before being transferred into 30 yo Metusalem Oloroso Sherry Casks for an additional 4 years of maturation. So we thought it would be fun to compare them side by side. Bottled at 43% ABV.

• The Dalmore Portwood Reserve side by side with Grahams 10yo Tawny Port. The Portwood Reserve is initially matured in American White Oak ex Bourbon Barrels. About 50% of the liquid is then transferred into Port Pipes from WJ Grahams that were used to mature Grahams 10 yo Tawny Port. The liquid is then married and bottled at 46.5% ABV. Again, we thought it would be fun to compare this side by side with the port itself.

• The Dalmore 15yo. Initially matured for 12 years in American White Oak ex Bourbon Barrels. The liquid is then split into 3rds and separately matured in 30 yo MetusalemOloroso Sherry Casks, 30 yo Apostoles Sherry Casks, and Amoroso Sherry Cask. The 3 batches are married and proofed down to 40% ABV.

• The Dalmore King Alexander III. Initially matured in American White Oak ex Bourbon Barrels and parceled up into 6 with some liquid going into first-fill small batch Bourbon Barrels, 30 yo Matusalem Oloroso Sherry Casks, WJ Grahams Tawny Port Pipes, Chateau Marbuzet Cabernet Sauvignon Casks, Madeira Drums, and Marsala casks.

• The Dalmore - Valour. This is one of the ones we picked up at auctin, and we're still in the process of tracking down the details on when it was released. Most of the online reviews can be found around 2014ish, and it appears to have been a travel retail only release (initially at least). It's triple cask matured -- first fill ex-bourbon casks, oloroso butts, and port pipes. 40% abv.

• The Dalmore - Dominium. This was another one we picked up at auction, it was part of a series of three releases dubbed the Fortuna Meritas Collection, released in the Summer of 2016 exclusive to travel retail (with this, the Dominium, being the most premium offering in the range). It's finished in first fill Matusalem Sherry casks. The name "Dominium" means ownership and is a reference to The Dalmore's much celebrated moment when the Mackenzie clan saved King Alexander III from a charging stag.

How about that for a lineup! We hope you can join us! We'll have complimentary food on hand as usual (likely pizza). Please let us know if you have any questions.

Cheers,
Drammers Club