Six Independent Releases | Various ABV

Score: 9/10

**Exceptional.**
***TL;DR***
*Solid releases left and right of a stop-and-stare bottle. Incredible.*

Perseverance

What makes a success story? When asked about critical factors in the world of business, the old adage from any random marketeer would likely be ‘timing and location’. And who could argue with that. After all, being in the right place, at the right time is the golden combo in just about any success story.

And at first glance Dràm Mòr’s story reads as if they got the timing horribly, horribly wrong. A family business built by Kenny and Viktorija MacDonald, two people with years of experience under their belt both in the world of whisky and global export, before stepping into the business of independent bottling. It seemed like they were ticking all the boxes when they started up in 2019, except for the fact that it was mere months before the global pandemic struck.

‘Never waste a good crisis’ is as equally big a cliché as the aforementioned time and location thing but, as it goes with clichés, there’s often an awful lot of truth to be found in them.

Dràm Mòr was, and is, essentially an ‘all or nothing’ endeavour. So when the pandemic struck, bailing out wasn’t exactly an option. As we probably all fondly remember the hours upon hours spent behind our screens during lockdown, the MacDonalds made the most of the situation and they dug deep into the whole virtual tasting thing.

Nearly four years on and life somewhat back to normal, and it’s fair to say Dràm Mòr came out on top. Perseverance, probably mixed in with a good dose of Scottish stubbornness, paid off. In very little time, Dràm Mòr has become an established and often welcomed bottler for many, and it’s frankly mind boggling to see them pushing the brand and promoting their outturns across whisky festivals all over Europe and beyond. If you want to make it in whisky as a small business, you’re likely to be living out of a suitcase 150 days a year, so better pack some fresh undies. Unless you’re Kenny and go full kilt pretty much wherever you go.

Another one of those big truths and clichés says that you’re only as good as your latest release, and as it happens, we’ve been sent six of their recent bottlings. So, to help you work out what’s what, we’ll dive straight in.

Review 1/6

Royal Brackla 11yo, 2011 - 2023, First fill oloroso sherry, 457 bottles, Christmas 2023 release, 56.1% ABV
~£90 limited availability

This is the first time they’ve bottled a Royal Brackla, and is one of 3 of their most recent Christmas bottlings.

Score: 7/10

**Very Good Indeed.**
***TL;DR***
*As rich and full on as you’d expect from a first fill Oloroso cask, but also definitely not a sherry monster*

Nose

Luscious and rich, dense and thick with a lot of syrup and fruit notes: berries, cherry and stewed apricot. Caramel and fudge, almonds, allspice and a faint hint of sweet ginger. With a drop of water even more spice notes emerge with clove and baking spices.

Palate

Rich, warm arrival with viscous, chewy mouthfeel. Spices, a hint of wood, stewed red fruit and jam, with apple syrup going into boiled sweets in there as well. Underneath there’s a note of lightly salted caramel and white chocolate, making for a wonderfully balanced dram with a drying and warm finish. Although perfectly palatable neat, a drop of water adds depth and some complexity as it reveals more spice and wood notes, accentuating the salinity.

The Dregs

An excellent dram! Rich and warming, but by no means a sherry bomb. This is just an extremely morish, easy drinking, well balanced and warming whisky. Exactly the sort of bottle you want to find in your cabinet in these cold, gloomy months.

Score: 7/10

Review 2/6

Millstone 7yo, 2016 - 2023, First fill oloroso hogshead, 330 bottles, Summer 2023 release, 53% ABV
~£80 sold out

This is actually the first non-scotch whisky bottled by Dràm Mòr and word of mouth has it that there’s more to come, so no need to fret should you have missed out on this one.

Score: 6/10

**Good stuff.**
***TL;DR***
*spirit and cask go hand in hand*

Nose

Immediately there’s that signature mixture of grain and sweet spice notes I often find in younger expressions from Millstone. This time it’s grainy sweetness and some pleasant confectionery notes that lead the way, leaning on some gentle citrus notes. Dark honey, burnt sugar, vanilla, cooked red fruit. At first all of these notes sort of come neatly in a row, one queuing politely after the other, but give it some time and everything marries together nicely.

Palate

Spices and wood. A bit sharp at first. There’s a gentle green-herbaceous element, countered by an understated bittersweet note. Medium-full, slightly drying mouthfeel going into an increasingly drying finish. Nice balance between spirit and wood.

The Dregs

Pleasant and enjoyable. Maybe you could argue that it’s a tad straightforward, but of course not every whisky has to be bursting with complexity. This is simply a no-nonsense take on a single malt, and while it’s a first fill oloroso hoggie, there’s still quite some emphasis on the spirit character.

Score: 6/10

Review 3/6

Tullibardine 8yo, 2015 - 2023, First fill PX hogshead, 233 bottles, Autumn 2023 release, 57.4% ABV
~£75-85 some availability

Score: 7/10

**Very good indeed.**
***TL;DR***
*a well tamed beast that still roars*

Nose

Bags of sweet red fruit and bubble gum. A gentle ‘green’ note and sappy wood, while a citric – acidity shines through. It suggests depth and complexity.

Palate

Warming and dry arrival with wood and spices. Very layered and well matured, without obliterating the spirit character. Dried red fruit, leaning against a distinctive salty note. An ever so gentle coffee-like bitterness leads the way into a lovely long, woody finish.

The Dregs

This brings a ton of maturity and complexity – in fact, this whisky seems to be acting almost twice its age even. Sherry cask a go-go, but in the best possible way!

Score: 7/10

Review 4/6

Speyside 8yo, 2015 - 2023, Finished in a first fill PX hogshead, 274 bottles, Autumn 2023 release, 55.3% ABV
~£55-60 some availability

Score: 6/10

**Good stuff.**
***TL;DR***
*takes time and patience, but very much worth it*

Nose

Lots of honey and sweet oranges. Some lemon. Grain dust and sweet corn going into sugared popcorn and red apples. The PX cask is behaving very, very politely and inobtrusive as it’s sort of hanging around in the back, delivering notes of sweet spices. Only after adding a drop of water it kicks into gear, bringing notes of toffee apple, dark honey and just a whiff of fresh leather.

Palate

Surprisingly a bit sharp and nippy at first – the ABV definitely shows here. Viscous, ‘dark’ mouthfeel as it announces black pepper and dark honey notes. Surprisingly, it’s quite salty and gingery as well. Adding some water tones down the initial heat, and I’m now picking up more spices, burnt sugar, burnt toast and grain notes.

The Dregs

This is quite the experience. Initially I wasn’t convinced all those different notes were getting along very well, so I put it aside for some 20 minutes. When coming back, they managed to find an intriguing, interesting balance. A whisky that requires a bit of patience, time and attention, but get to know it and it really delivers.

Score: 6/10

Review 5/6

Macduff 14yo, 2009 - 2023, Finished in a first fill Pinot de Charentes hogshead, 290 bottles, Autumn 2023 release, 54.9% ABV
~£90 some availability

Score: 7/10

**Very good indeed.**
***TL;DR***
*absolutely lovely aperitif whisky, with depth and complexity*

Nose

Pear drops and honeysuckle. Orchard fruit dominated by pears and green apples. Almonds, sweet grapes and something musky-dusty.

Palate

The nose translates neatly into the palate, with that mixture of honey sweetness, orchard fruit and a vegetal funk. Fresh wood joins the party, making for a very interesting, layered but above all inviting whisky

The Dregs

Pineau de Charentes is a French aperitif wine from the cognac region (and is actually also made by adding about a quarter of cognac into a batch) which is typically a bit sweet, and it really shows in this whisky too. What’s even more important is that it works wonderfully well with this Macduff. An under the radar, perhaps often even wrongfully ignored whisky finished in a bit of an usual cask. Maybe a bit of a bold move, but nothing less than a bullseye!

Review 6/6

Inchfad 16yo, 2007 - 2023, Finished in a first fill PX hogshead, 191 bottles, Autumn 2023 release, 53.2% ABV
~£110 some availability

Score: 9/10

**Exceptional.**
***TL;DR***
*Subtle, complex, balanced and full of flavour. Stunning stuff*

Nose

Superbly subtle. Understated peat going wonderfully well with a rich, earthy sweetness of dark chocolate, cooked red fruit, mushrooms and cream cheese going into custard. The red fruit emerges further, sitting on a savoury note. again, that weird, but wonderful combo of dark chocolate and mushrooms. And all of that is just from sticking my nose in the glass immediately after pouring. Take five, Earie!

Coming back some 15 – 20 minutes later and it’s still equally impressive: a slightly dirty, vegetal note pops up and all the while this wonderful herbaceous sweetness lingers through.

Palate

Everything that had me hooked on the nose alone, returns on the palate. Sweetness mixed with a slightly dirty and vegetal funk, while again that dark chocolate is married extremely well with a gentle, understated phenolic peat before it ends in a long, very warming, peaty, woody, gently peppery, savoury driven finish that rounds of everything rather perfectly.

The Dregs

Yes, this is an expensive whisky, but it’s also something very, very precious. All the Inchfads bottled by Dràm Mòr so far have been an absolute treat, and while this one really takes things into a different direction, it completely blew my socks off. If ever there’s a whisky to splash the cash on, this might well be it.

Score: 9/10

The Final Dregs

Frankly, I’m still recovering from this utterly brilliant Inchfad, but each and every one of these whiskies are well worth a place in anyone’s cabinet in my opinion.

In a perfect world, there would be plenty of these to go around, but as is the case with single cask, cask strength releases, the outturn and availability will always be limited. In an equally ideal world, these small-scale, family run operations like Dràm Mòr, but also Watt Whisky, Alistair Walker and more, would be on many an enthusiast’s radar, as they really have the ability to bring their unique take on things, adding in their own, particular colours and shades to the whole wide colourful spectrum of whisky.

Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. EA

Images and samples for this review provided by Dràm Mòr.

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