Dallas Dhu - 30 Years Old

Dear Readers,
I know it’s been a few months since I last posted. It was by far the longest hiatus without a posting in the entire history of MannyMontaigne. The reasons behind that lengthy silence are by now beside the point, but let’s recap in any event. First there was a long and arduous trial - one that occupied most of my waking moments, and half of the time when I was sleeping - dreaming about cross-examination. Anyway, that trial ended not long before the All-Star Break. I was planning on returning to the blog as soon as the Red Sox began winning games, because much of June had looked promising. Still, I thought that the second half of July, after the break, would tell the story for the rest of 2012. There was a tough road trip; there were series with the Rangers and the Yankees; and I figured that by the end of the month we’d know how the rest of 2012 would go. OK, so now we know, and there really won’t be much baseball news for the rest of this season, at least not the kind of news we enjoy reading here at MannyMontaigne.

However, I do have some whisky news, and we’re always interested in whisky news, no matter how badly the Sox, or anyone else for that matter, are playing. Last weekend, G-Man came to town for the combination Haters Ball/Whisky Lovers Ball, and he brought with him a bottle recently delivered by his friend who is allegedly studying in Scotland. I say allegedly because this young fellow manages to bring home some exceptional whiskies each time he crosses the Atlantic.

So the latest offering was a Signatory bottling of Dallas Dhu, 30 Years old. I confess that I knew nothing of Dallas Dhu, and could not recall ever tasting it previously, not even at Keens, our favorite repository of hard-to-find scotch whiskies. So we looked it up in Jackson, and learned that the distillery has been closed since 1983. That’s about a decade longer than the Rosebank distillery has been closed. Which explains why we had never seen it anywhere. But for the time-being, a wonderful example of this highland malt is available at G-Man’s place in Portland. To make arrangements for tastings, call 1-800-YankeesSuck.

Here’s the notes: The whisky was distilled in 1980, and has been bottled at cask strength, in this case 54.7%.  The nose is floral and vanilla, sweet for a highland malt. It tastes more like a good lowland -- light, sweet, a bit peppery, however. And as you would expect from a thirty year old malt, it had a long luxurious finish. We found it best with just a drop of water. The high alcohol gave it a bit of a bite, but that passed quickly, and left behind the long satisfying finish. I can’t imagine where one can find more of this Dallas Dhu this side of the Atlantic. But if you happen to run across it anywhere, I highly recommend it, not only for the opportunity to partake of a piece of Scottish history, but for the sheer enjoyment of a beautiful understated and sweet whisky. What a shame all these places had to close.