The Maltman is one of those bottlers that showed up about a decade ago, at least on my radar they did. Since then they’ve been putting out quality whisky and aren’t shy of using good sherry casks. It seems there was some money there to get started.

I don’t have many whiskies of them, though. Mostly because they’re often not on the cheap side of things, and although the quality generally warrants the price, I prefer to try before I buy. Somehow that is not really a thing with a bottler like this. I rarely see any of their stuff in tastings.

Where I get to taste this is, is like this, when I get a random sample with my order from Dramtime. The other place I see this bottler regularly is at Wullie’s Hielander restaurant in Alkmaar. And, of course, on the Hielander whisky festival in all Februaries. Before the plague, that was.

But, as said, this one came from Dramtime, so credits where credits are due. Thanks!

Sniff:
Incredibly rich with a lot of dried fruits. Very sweet and thick and syrupy. Lots of dried plums, peaches, apricots. A bit of a sponge cake with baking spices background. Very cask driven, with only a little bit of the light spiciness of the spirit remaining. Quite some oak in the background too.

Sip:
The palate brings a bit of a tingling sensation, with a dry bite after it. The sweetness is here too, but it’s slightly less fruity and slightly more spicy. There’s a bitter note on top of the dried plums and apricots, which is a bit almond like, a bit like plum stones, powdered spices and sawdust.

Swallow:
The finish continues down the same road. Lots of fruit, quite some spices. Some sherry trifle with a syrupy fruitiness. Some oak, but not a lot.

This is quite on the money as far as PX casks go. There’s lots of rich fruits and a syrupy texture. On top of that is the rather rich spirit of Dailuaine. Luckily the oak also brings some spicy to balance all that richness, or this would have been one cloying and thick whisky.

Now, it’s a pretty good Dailuaine, which also is reasonably priced at € 90 in the secondary market. Official channels seem to have sold out by now.

87/100