Between 1884 and 1887 Dailuaine was rebuilt and expanded, making
it one of the largest distilleries in the Highlands at the time. In 1889
Dailuaine was the very first distillery to be fitted with a 'pagoda' type
roof designed by Charles Doig. Many distilleries followed suit and these
days the pagoda roof has become more or less the 'traditional' shape.
Distilleries like Aberlour, Ardbeg and Benriach all have pagoda roofs.

Dailuaine distillery was built in 1852 by William Mackenzie.
When William passed away in 1865 his widow Jane decided to lease
Dailuaine to a banker from Aberlour, James Fleming. In 1879 Jane's son
Thomas formed 'Mackenzie & Company' together with James Fleming.

A fire in 1917 destroyed part of the distillery, including the historical pagoda roof.
Dailuaine was forced to close, but reopened again in 1920. Four decades later, in 1960, the distillery was expanded from four to six stills and the floor maltings were replaced by a so-called 'Saladin Box'. The device (named after its inventor Charles Saladin) is a big, flat box which mechanically turns the germinating barley inside and allows air to pass through it. In 1965 the stills were converted to internal (steam) heating. (Check out Charles MacLean's article in MM#13 about direct and indirect firing of stills for more information about the developments in this area.)

Dailuaine-Glenlivet 14yo (59.6%, Cadenhead's, 18.75cl)
Nose: Relatively restrained. Beer? Maybe there was more, but two other maniacs were distracting me.
Taste: Nondescript (a bit tannic) at cask strength. Bitter. Resinous. Beer again. Not really my type.
Score: 75 points - for somebody with a sweet tooth like me this porobably isn't the right choice.

Dailuaine 16yo (43%, Flora & Fauna, Badger on the label, Bottled +/- 1999)
Nose: Sherry. A hint of smoke. Grassy after a while. Flattens out after a few minutes.
Not unlike the Benrinnes in the same 'Flora & Fauna' range, but toned down a notch.
Taste: Sherry sweetness. Woody. A bit malty. Fruitier over time. Smoke. A big burn.
Great development! Complexity. Oak and sherry in the finish, but caramel sweetness as well.
Conclusion: 80 points - this is one of the few malts that tastes better than it smells.

Dailuaine 22yo 1973 (61.8%, UDRM)
Nose: Ooh, very pleasant. Sweet and slightly dusty. Spicy with a suggestion of fruits.
Light organics. Hint of vegetables. Cake. Rum. Not terribly complex, but very attractive.
Faint smoke. Hint of peat? A splash of water didn't really seem to change the aroma.
Taste: Sweet and fruity at cask strength. Smooth start. Apple? Good body. Cake?
Becomes hotter and flatter with water, it seems. Gritty and bitter with time. Too bad.
This one reminds me of last month's Glen Ord 23yo 1974/1998 (60.8%, UD Rare Malts).
Score: 85 points - I'd recommend it with more persistence and tenacity than other maniacs.

Dailuaine 1974/2001 (40%, G&M Connoisseur's Choice, code IH/CJI)
Nose: Very rich, but subtle at the same time. Round. Polished oak. Tea. Toffee.
Fruit cake and rhum. It smells a lot like the old candy store I used to visit as a kid.
Earthy with more organics after a while. Some smoke? Mighty pleasant.
Taste: Fruity and woody with a hint of liquorice. It suggests a power beyond its 40%.
Slightly nutty. An excellent palate for a malt this age. Bottled at just the right time it seems.
Score: 84 points - more expressive than many other Connoisseur's Choice bottlings I've tried.

Dailuaine 1975/2003 (46%, Berry Bros, Cask #5539)
Nose: Remarkably soft and light. Flowery with a hint of apple at first, then sweeter & spicier.
It shows growing complexity over time. Something softly medicinal in the background.
Taste: Remarkably soft as well and growing sweeter over time. Definitely recommendable.
Score: 82 points - a great choice if you 'have' to drink in the morning.

Dailuaine 31yo 1973/2005 (47.8%, The Whisky Fair, Sherry Butt #14739, 204 bottles)
Nose: Mellow, thoughtful start. Sweet with a hint of dust. Cotton candy. Hint of mint?
Then more organics. Vegetable stock. Much more power in the nose after some breathing.
Classic sherry development, but maybe a little more stand-offish than some sherry monsters.
Again a hint of dust. Meaty. Brilliant! Hey, could that be the faintest whiff of peat smoke?
The nose keeps developing and surprising you at every turn. Definitely 90's material!
Taste: Quite soft in the start. Very sweet as well. Big, fruity centre. Smoke? Lovely.
Hint of something metallic. I love this stuff, it has just enough 'sharp edges' for me.
Score: 90 points - right up my alley and if anything I'd say this is a conservative score.
 
 
 

In 1890 or 1891 the partnership was converted into the Dailuaine-Glenlivet Distillery Ltd. which merged with the Talisker Distillery Ltd. and (among others) Imperial distillery to form a new company; Dailuaine-Talisker Distilleries Co Ltd. in 1898. Dailuaine-Talisker became a subsidiary of the DCL in 1925, although the distillery was run by SMD for decades.

In 2005 Diageo's 27 distilleries had a total production capacity of some 60,000,000 litres of pure alcohol per year (which is a little over 25% of the total industry capacity). Pernod Ricard isn't very far behind with more than 20% of the industry's annual output coming from their 13 distilleries - over 45,000,000 litres in 2005.

The Saladin Box at Dailuaine was closed in 1983 when the distillery started to purchase its malt from one of the large 'industrial' maltings. Just like so many other distilleries in Scotland Dailuaine eventually became part of industry giant Diageo when United Distillers (UD, part of the Guiness Group) and International Distillers & Vintners (IDV, part of Grand Metropolitan) merged in 1998. Although Diageo is by far the largest 'player' in the industry measured in number of distilleries, the distance to #2 Pernod Ricard measured in production capacity isn't that significant.

Trivia about Dailuaine:  Around 2005 only 2% of Dailuaine's output was bottled as a single malt whisky.
Nevertheless, the distillery is one of the biggest in Diageo's portfolio, measured in production capacity; only Dufftown, Glendullan, Caol Ila, Clynelish and Glen Ord have a larger (potential) output within the Diageo 'stable'. With that impressive production capacity in mind, it's surprising that Dailuaine is such a 'low profile' distillery.

That's all the trivia I have to offer on Dailuaine at the moment.
More data should be added on the new Malt Madness website eventually...