Review 231. Dràm Mòr Spring 2025 release (part 1)

Last week I explained why I love whisky festivals so much. While now first and foremost a social gathering for me, providing the opportunity to catch up with friends and talk all things whisky, it’s also actually a great place to meet new ones. One example:  Last year at Spirits in the Sky I was approached by a few folk who recognised me from occasionally hosting the quiz at Roy’s vPubs, and soon enough these  folk were recruited to join the ‘Belgian barflies’ group. While by no means a whisky club as such, this little circle of people now makes sure we meet-up a few times a year to do tastings, bottle splits and just enjoy each other’s company while also making  sure we meet-up at festivals as well.

And 5 years ago, less than 2 weeks before half the world went into lockdown due to the covid pandemic, at another festival I was approached by the formidable character that goes by the name of Kenny MacDonald, as I had walked past his stand without stopping once too many. Something down the lines of  (*insert thick Scottish accent here)‘’ xcuse me pal, but you’ve been walking past 2 or 3 times now, and I just can’t take this any more. You need to try my whiskies. Now’.  The next 60 minutes or so  I tried (and absolutely enjoyed) Dràm Mòr’s inaugural releases, including the now (in)famous Glen Garrioch, with indeed an ‘r’ too many on the label, while chatting and talking with Kenny and Viktorija MacDonald. We’ve been keeping in touch on a not so regular basis since and they have been kind and generous enough to regularly send me samples of their releases since.

Seldom you’ll meet a company that’s driven more by the  yin-yang principle  than Dràm Mòr. Very much a family thing, Kenny being the voice and face of the operation (and what a voice it is, not to mention the face and general appearance – quintessential Scottishness made flesh right before you), while his wife Viktorija is the driving, more silent force behind everything. Two very passionate people working their buts off to make their endeavour a success. And I’ve touched upon the possible bias that comes with these sort of relations more than once in the past,  as it is indeed potentially  difficult to criticise what they’ve been releasing as I’ve established a more personal relationship with the people running the company. To make it clear, I would say as much if I ‘m not particularly enjoying one of their releases, but luckily they set high standards for themselves as well. Being the small scale operation they are,  they can’t afford to release subpar stuff as word of mouth is pretty much their best and only marketing tool. Which essentially means you’re only as good as your latest release at the best of times. While they have established themselves as a quality -led, small scale indie bottler, they’re still putting in the hours and the airmiles winning souls pretty much one festival at a time. And seeing how they’ve expanded their export markets slowly and gradually, this means quite  lot of travelling is involved.

Anyway, today and next week I’ll be going through their most recent Spring release, consisting of 6 single malt, single cask, cask strength releases – as per usual. So 3 this week, and 3 next week. Let’s tuck in.

Glenburgie 16 yo (2009 – 2025), refill bourbon hogshead matured, NC, UCF, 56.7 % ABV, 203 bottles available.

Nose

So very and typically Glenburgie: a luscious fruit basket is the first and most obvious impression I get. Pears, apricot, yellow apples, banana, mango, papaya…It’s also very creamy, almost custard  - jam like with clear hints of vanilla, honey and honeysuckle. Gentle spice notes of nutmeg with perhaps a whiff of ginger and cinnamon in there as well. Quite gorgeous in fact. If you add a drop of water, the creamy note becomes slightly more prominent as a lactic touch joins the feast.

Palate

Fruity and dense on the arrival, again almost custard like even. Then  it sort of stops developing further as the ABV makes a strong and clear impact and things get overpowered a bit by the alcohol. It does mellow out beautifully after adding water though, although it also keeps something of its feisty character. Like every beautiful rose, it comes with some thorns. A lot from the nose returns on the palate, with all that fruity and gentle spice delight, yet the mouthfeel develops towards a woody, dry and full texture. Super accessible, yet quite layered.

Finish

Long, driven by spices, dried fruit (banana ad other tropical fruit notes) and vanilla.

Final thoughts

Absolutely gorgeous on the nose and almost equally impressive on the palate. I feel the refill hoggie here really left plenty of room for the classic fruity style of Glenburgie to take centre stage, while sort of building around that to add interesting extra layers of vanilla, spices and woody notes. Note to self: buy more Glenburgie, and start with this one!

Dailuaine 13 year old (2012-2025), refill bourbon hogshead matured, 55.1% ABV, NC, UCF, 157 bottles.

Nose

My first thought was: did they accidentally send me two samples of the Glenburgie? While I did use a clean glass and rinsed the palate with plenty of water in between drams, the fruitiness is what sticks to me at first. Only after allowing it some more time it takes a different course, with quite a bit of vanilla and dessert like dairy elements of cream and sweet cheeses, citrus and honey, and just a faint note of white pepper and some salinity.

Palate

Salty and fruity and then a full on dry mouthfeel kicks in, only to retreat again almost immediately, making room for spices with notes of vanilla, ginger, allspice and wood spice. Adding water reveals layers of apricot jam with a menthol-peppermint like freshness to it. Very interesting and quite tasty.

Finish

Spices, pepper, and a distinct woody echo, making it increasingly drying towards the end.

Final thoughts

Nothing ‘dirty’ about this Dailuaine, but lots of interesting things happening as fruit and vanilla driven sweetness is countered by salinity, only to be countered again by herbal and spice notes of both ginger and peppermint. It is just a tad ‘hot’ perhaps initially, but give it time to breath and add a bit of water to dig past that and I found this one to be very, very enjoyable.

Balblair 14 yo (2011- 2025), PX quarter cask ‘finish’ (presumably after a bourbon cask maturation), 53.1 % ABV, NC, UCF, 76 bottles

Nose

Very rich straight off the bat. Dried fruit notes with raisins and sultanas, plums and Christmas cake, but what I’m mostly picking up are the varnish, polish and wax notes, sitting against coffee and treacle and tropical wood notes.

Palate

Just like on the nose: it’s rich and full on. There’s fruit, wood, caramel/treacle and that waxy-varnish like element from the nose also clearly manifests itself, making for a dense, viscous chewy mouthfeel and texture. This is very palatable neat, so I didn’t feel the need to add any water.

Finish

Chocolate, coffee, sultanas and oranges.

Final thoughts

Rich, dense, intense and full, yet never overly so. Everything remains well in check. There’s an intrinsic delicacy to the Balblair character and somehow that remains well intact here, even managing to keep a lid on things, making for a wonderfully balanced dram. If a full on sherry bomb is like a mini gun firing from all cylinders, this one is a like a sniper rifle: meticulous, precise and very effective. It has all the power and flavours of a sherry bomb, but the delivery and presentation is much more refined and elegant. Lush, rich and utterly beautiful and gorgeous yet never decadent or pompous.

Final final thoughts

 Well we’re off to a flying start with this Spring release it seems. Quite often there’s one that just speaks out a little more than the others, but now that’s really hard as these 3 are absolutely excellent. All 3 share certain similarities as there is an elegance layered throughout them,  but they are also very different, bringing their own distinctive characters and flavours to the table. In any case, these have really set the bar for next week’s part 2 (with a Glen Garioch, a Staoisha and a Mannochmore), so I hope they’ve been practicing their Fosbury Flop!