Berry's Dailuaine 2010 KWM Cask

Tasting Notes

Andrew's Tasting Note

Nose: soft, creamy and fruity with a tart edge; Fruit by the Foot, milk chocolate dipped Jujubes, sticky wines, and candied nuts; the malty shows later with some citrus and a faintly meaty note.   

Palate: big, round, and fruity with loads of spice; more Jujubes dipped in milk chocolate, Fruit by the Foot, and bitter orange; slightly oxidized sticky wines, more candied nuts, and crisp spices: fennel, clove, and star anise; gets earthier, and a touch meaty with grassy malt and citric notes.

Finish: medium-long, warm, and fruity, again with that tart edge; warming spices.

Comment: this malt marks a couple of firsts for KWM, our first Dailuaine single cask, and our first ex-Vin Santo cask whisky; to say we are a bit weary of wine casks at KWM, would be an understatement, but this one got our approval, and I'm pretty confident the vast majority of you will love it.... except for maybe Curt; Shawn and I overruled him! 

Evan’s Tasting Note

Nose: Waxy and dessert-like with notes of Apple sauce, peach cobbler, chamomile tea, lemon custard, assorted pastries, pistachio nuts, muddled mint leaves, and a touch of white rum.

Palate: Almond paste, ripe pear and peach slices, raisins, shortbread, more lemon custard and more pistachios, glazed doughnuts, plus a touch of ginger ale and ground pepper.

Finish: Smooth, nutty and pastry-driven with a hint of spice on the fade.

Comment: I don’t have a lot of experience with Vin Sant casks finishes, but this is a wonderfully dessert-like dram. The Vin Santo cask marries wonderfully with the Dailuaine spirit.

Producer Tasting Note

"Dailuaine's muscular make works well in ex-sweet wine casks such as this Vin Santo wood from Italy. There's a fun balance of flavours on the nose from fresh green apples and pears to peaches and black cherry as the wood and distillate meet. A similar balancing act continues across the palate with some grassy, citrus notes rounded off by a thicker dried fruit element. The finish is long and shows apricots, tobacco and cedar."

Independent Bottler

One of our favourite independent bottlers, Berry Bros. & Rudd is a stored London based firm which has resided at #3 St. James Street, a stone's throw from St. James Palace, since 1698. Primarily a wine merchant, they have also played a prominent role in the Scotch whisky industry. In addition to founding the Cutty Sark Blend, and managing the Glenrothes brand for 30 years, BBR is also an independent bottler. We have long been impressed not only by the quality of their independent bottlings, but also their value! 

Berry Bros. & Rudd in Their Own Words

With two Royal Warrants and more than 300 years of history, Berry Bros. & Rudd is Britain’s original wine and spirits merchant. 

We can trace our history back to 1698, when an enterprising woman called the Widow Bourne started an “Italian grocer’s” at No.3 St James’s Street, selling tea, snuff, spices and the most fashionable drink of the day, coffee. The sign of the coffee mill still hangs outside our premises at No.3 today, in tribute to our roots.

In due course, our focus shifted to something a little bit stronger. As wine became important to the business, so too did spirits, and we started bottling casks under our label in the early 19th century, making us Britain’s oldest independent spirits bottler. Three centuries on, the family business continues to flourish, with its heart still very much at No.3.

While much has changed over the years, we are still owned and managed by members of the Berry and Rudd families, and we continue to supply the British Royal Family, as we have done since the reign of King George III. We still, from time to time, weigh customers on a giant set of coffee scales, a tradition which began in the 1760s, with Lord Byron, William Pitt and Beau Brummell among those who have had their weights recorded in our ledgers. Most importantly, we still believe that everything you should look for in a wine or spirit comes down to one simple question: “Is it good to drink?”