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We Tried The New Dalmore Cask Curation Series Port Edition

  • Beth, a whisky enthusiast, became Whisky Magazine’s editor (2022-2024) and now works in content marketing for scotch whisky brands.
Credit: The Dalmore
The Dalmore Cask Curation series began with the release of The Sherry Edition – three exquisite single malts from The Dalmore, aged in ex-bourbon and then finished in sherry casks from Gonzalez Byass in Spain. As promised, The Dalmore has unveiled the second release in the ongoing Cask Curation series: The Port Edition.
The Dalmore Cask Curation Port Edition comprises three single malts from the scotch distillery that have been finished in casks from port brand Graham’s. The casks were used to age single-harvest tawny ports from 1997, 1994, and 1952. The whiskies are aged 27, 30, and 43 years, totaling a century of age between them. They were all aged in ex-bourbon barrels before their finishing periods, which were two years for the 27  and 30 year olds and three years for the 43 year old. The 27 year old is bottled at 49.3%, the 30 year old at 43.9% and the 43 year old at 41.8%. The whiskies will be sold together, with just 150 sets available globally priced at $37,500.

Why Is The Dalmore Cask Curation Port Edition Such A Valuable Collectors’ Piece?

Let’s start with its scarcity. Only 150 sets of the Cask Curation Port Edition will be made available globally.

Additionally, the cask-sharing agreement between The Dalmore and Graham’s is exclusive. No other whisky producer in the world has access to these port casks. The chance to experience this unique combination should appeal to lovers of port and scotch whisky — particularly considering that Graham’s has a formidable global reputation for the quality of its ports.

And a fact for the port fans out there: there are no more available bottles of that 1952 single-harvest tawny port, adding to the aura of rarity around this release.

Few people in the world will be lucky enough to purchase one of these sets. If you get the chance for even the faintest sniff of these whiskies, take it.

These Whiskies Are Old But Not That Old — Are They Really Worth The Money?

Emphatically, yes. The Dalmore selected these particular port casks not for their age but for the flavor and the story behind them. Distilleries and bottlers are pushing for ever-older age statements, especially in the luxury end of the market where The Dalmore plays. It takes guts (and of course skill) for a distiller to release a whisky at the right age, not the oldest one.

Ultra-aged releases have been dropping at a rate of knots in the past few weeks: 50-year-olds from The Balvenie and Benromach; the 55-year-old 200th-anniversary edition from The Glenlivet; the 84-year-old single malt in The Macallan’s TIME : SPACE release. Whisky fans and collectors with the money to spend on a release like this would do well to remember that age isn’t everything.

Beth Whymark

Following six years in regional journalism, Beth entered the world of spirits in 2020 after joining Paragraph Publishing, the company behind Whisky Magazine and the World Whiskies Awards. She was editor of Whisky Magazine from September 2022 to July 2024 and served as one of the publication's tasters. Her current role is in content marketing, working day-to-day with a number of Scotch whisky brands, and she is still reading and writing about and tasting whiskeys from around the world in her spare time.

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