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How tawny port shapes the second release of Dalmore Cask Curation

Becky Paskin reports from the Douro on an old agreement between The Dalmore and Charles Symington, one which has given rise to the second release in the whisky brand's Cask Curations series

Words by Becky Paskin

Dalmore port edition
The Collection
The three expressions in the series have each been matured in ex-bourbon casks and finished for two years in rare Graham’s single harvest tawny port casks

Decades before most whisky companies understood the value of sourcing quality casks, Richard Paterson, former master blender of The Dalmore, struck a gentleman’s agreement with winemaker Charles Symington for exclusive access to their used port casks.

These tawny and colheita pipes have nurtured the Dalmore single malt for the past 40 years, imparting complex tobacco, dark chocolate and spice notes to its densely fruity whisky, in expressions from the Port Wood Reserve and King Alexander III through to its rare editions aged from 25 to 45 years old.

Now a trio of rare colheita port pipes feature as the stars of the second Dalmore Cask Curation, an annual series of rare, luxury single malt whiskies designed to honour the Highland single malt distillery’s cask partners.

A trio of rare colheita port pipes feature as the stars of the second Dalmore Cask Curation

‘What started off as a conversation and maybe a transactional agreement became this friendship built on trust,’ says Charlotte Symington, senior marketing manager at Symington Family Estates. ‘We’re really proud of our relationship with The Dalmore, and the crescendo of that is the Cask Curation: Port Edition.’

While last year’s inaugural Sherry Edition celebrated The Dalmore’s long-standing relationship with Spain’s Gonzalez Byass, the newly released Port Edition is a trio of single malts, each matured in ex-bourbon casks and finished for two years in rare Graham’s single harvest tawny port casks.

Margaret Nicol, blend controller for The Dalmore who selected and nurtured the casks as they matured, believes port gives the aged single malt a unique mellow fruitiness. ‘Port casks give the Dalmore spirit a really balanced, plummy and round finish,’ she says.

Graham's barrels, some of which are used for The Dalmore Cask Curations: Port Edition
Graham's port casks help calm the Dalmore's signature boldness

Nicol adds that the Cask Curation series is a uniquely special way for the Highland Scotch distillery to honour the individuality of the winemakers from whom they have long sourced their casks. ‘You can’t compare the two Cask Curation releases as each one is a reflection of the region the casks have come from: sherry complements the Dalmore’s boldness while port calms it down. They are both as individual as the winemakers.’

Symington Family Estates is the largest vineyard owner in the Douro with 26 Quintas covering 2,255ha – many of their grapes destined for their own award-winning portfolio of port: Graham’s, Dow’s, Warre’s and Cockburn’s.

The family have been producing wine here since the late 19th century when Andrew James (AJ) Symington, Charles’ great grandfather and himself a Scotsman, travelled from Glasgow to Oporto at the age of 18 to start a career in textiles, ultimately becoming enamoured with the region’s wines.

They say great wines come from vines that struggle – the Douro is the world’s largest area of mountain vineyards where hardy vines cling to steep slopes of rugged schist and granite. Forced to lay down deep roots, their various grapes contribute to port’s famously rich complexity.

It’s for this reason tawny port casks make a particularly attractive vessel for maturing Scotch whisky, while it was Paterson and Symington’s shared Glaswegian roots that perhaps made for an equally attractive partnership.

Graham's Quinta dos Malvedos valley at sunrise

Just 150 sets of The Dalmore Cask Curation: The Port Edition have been created with a price tag of £35,000, each presented in a teal, leather-finished travel case handcrafted in Florence, Italy.

The Dalmore 27 Year Old (49.3% abv), the youngest in the set, is a richly fruited whisky with notes of figs, dark chocolate, stem ginger and manuka honey that’s been finished in vintage port casks from 1997 – the year Charles Symington began his career as an apprentice winemaker.

The most complex whisky in the Port Edition (and Nicol’s favourite) is the Dalmore 30 Year Old (43.9% abv), which has been finished in a tawny port cask from 1994, a vintage year when the Douro experienced a wet winter, crisp spring and warm summer, resulting in an exceptional harvest. The liquorice, dark chocolate and cherry notes in the port make a perfect pairing with The Dalmore’s zesty orange spirit, resulting in a whisky dripping with flavours of sticky blood orange, soft baking spice, walnuts and chocolate digestives.

Just 150 sets of the Dalmore Cask Curations: Port Edition have been created with a price tag of £35,000

Lastly, The Dalmore selected a unique tawny port cask from 1952 to finish its 43 Year Old expression (41.8% abv). The wine was harvested in the year Queen Elizabeth II was crowned, with it bottled to celebrate her 60th and 70th jubilees in 2012 and 2022, as well as the recent coronation of King Charles III.

The Dalmore has revealed there will be two further Cask Curation editions released in the next two years, each honouring a different winemaking partner. While in the past we’ve seen Californian red wine and Chateauneuf-du-Pape barrels used to finish The Dalmore, they’re keeping details close to their chests… although a source admits the latter is a particular favourite of Dalmore’s whisky makers.