At a risk of sounding cliché, there are times in life you receive an invitation you simply can’t refuse.
I had one such invitation in August, when The Dalmore invited me to visit their reinvigorated home in the Scottish Highlands. While I had been on many distillery tours – including one at The Dalmore pre-renovation – this new experience promised something different, a unique insight into the world of whisky creation through a more modern, artistic lens, a direction that prompted both intrigue — and great discussion.
In my case it was very much the former, so I headed to their home in Alness, Ross-shire, expectant and with an open mind. Also on the agenda was a tasting of the latest Distillery Select Edition, hand-selected from the very place I was about to visit.
On arrival, you might not notice too much difference from your perceived notion of a distillery tour, except maybe just how pristine everything looks: the newer buildings with their sharp architectural lines carving the green hilled skyline, and the older buildings standing proudly, with their limestone bricks repointed to perfection, giving no indication of wear and tear that their age warrants.
It’s when you step through the cast iron gates and into the welcoming suite that everything begins to change. The experience is akin to arriving at a modern luxury hotel, but only if it were dedicated to whisky, serving as The Dalmore archive with the Mackenzie family’s 12-pointed royal stag head featuring in creative ways throughout the well-considered décor.
The tour is purposefully designed to be intimate, carried out in small groups with the experience tailored to each guest, be that the ardent whisky enthusiast or the first-time drinker at the start of their journey.
It was here we had our first taste of The Dalmore, in the form of a welcome cocktail by Dean & Nancy on 22, a playful cocktail bar on the other side of the world based in Sydney, Australia, a far cry from the temperate clime in the Scottish Highlands. Although physically distant, they speak a similar language; the bar captures the mid-century decadence of high society, while The Dalmore’s refreshed distillery experience promises to inject new life into an age-old tradition.
This is not just a distillery tour; it’s a crafted experience for tastemakers of all kinds.
It bridges the gap between different worlds: luxury, fine-dining, art and whisky, and all without judging which of those spheres you’re more aligned with.
I hesitate to divulge much of the tour so as not to ruin the surprise, but the next few hours were a blend of sonic immersion, light design and, of course, tasting, in a multi-sensorial journey geared around the traditional distillery experience and the history of the famed whisky house.
And this new experience is in some ways reflected in the Distillery Select release for 2026, a curation that presents another side of The Dalmore while possessing all the familiarity of the house profile.
The Dalmore Distillery Select series launched in 2024, focusing on a small selection of whisky from The Dalmore’s dunnage warehouses, each focused on quality, and more interestingly for me — character.
The evolved 2026 release takes on an entirely different persona to its predecessors, combining the disparate worlds of Highland whisky and Sicilian winemaking.
Limited to 1,110 bottles, The Dalmore’s 2026 Distillery Select release is a 14-year-old Highland single malt with a Sicilian influence. Initially matured in American white oak ex-bourbon barrels, it enjoyed a further 21 months in Semisecco Marsala casks, drawing candied citrus, honeyed fruit, roasted nuts and gentle spice from the medium-sweet fortified wine. Bottled at 53.7% ABV, the whisky is non-chill filtered and retains its natural, albeit lighter, colour.
The flavour brings honeyed warmth and brighter citrus, rounded off with a nice balance of sweetness and dryness.
Master Blender Dr Kirstie McCallum’s influence can be tasted throughout, the floral delicacy, nuance and wine-cask inference, alongside Richard Paterson’s association with depth, richness and sherry, in a meeting of styles. As it should be, that is the essence of the house style, continuing to develop through the stewardship and judgement of different whisky makers, different generations.
Having recently tried The Dalmore’s new make spirit on the distillery floor, the distinct house profile is evident, yet distant – like the finer details that escape you in a hazy dream.
Ordinarily, with a whisky so rare, the temptation is to keep it, save it for an occasion worthy of the fluid. This bottle I opened straight away, realising that this year in many ways was perfectly encapsulated by this whisky: the prolonged winter rains, followed by a bright breezy spring and the unrelenting humid heat of a World Cup summer. Or perhaps my decision was prompted by nostalgia, the aromas causing me to reflect on the distillery tour that went beyond an experience – who knows. What I can say with confidence is that it truly is a fantastic dram.
The Dalmore Distillery Select 2026 is priced at £350. Released on 31 August, following advance access for Dalmore Guild members, it can also be purchased through the guest-exclusive boutique at the distillery’s reopened Highland home.
