In 1917 the focus shifted from malts to mines at Dalmore; the navy
used the location for the production of deep-sea mines. In 1920 they
left the distillery again - mostly in ruins after an explosion and a fire.

Dalmore, located just north of Inverness, was founded in 1839.
Founder Alexander Matheson leased the distillery to the Sunderland
family immediately and if my information is correct they were involved
in the operations until 1867. In 1874 the number of stills was increased
from two to four; quite an exception in those days. After Alexander
Matheson died in 1886 Sir Kenneth Matheson sold the distillery to its
former operators; brothers Alexander, Andrew and Charles Mackenzie.

Long before the legal battle about compensation for the damages between Andrew Mackenzie and the Royal Navy was over (the debate eventually reached the House of Lords) Dalmore distillery resumed production again. Apparently the distillery enjoyed a few decades of relative peace until the floor maltings were replaced with a Saladin box in 1956. The Saladin maltings remained in use until 1982, after which Dalmore purchased its malted barley centrally like most other distilleries these days. In 1966 the number of stills was expanded from four to eight, putting Dalmore in the top 25 distilleries, measured in production capacity.

Large drinks corporations mingle and merge like swingers from the 1960's and the story with
Dalmore is no different. In 1960 Mackenzie Brothers Ltd. merged with White & Mackay Ltd.
to form Dalmore-White & Mackay Ltd. which later became White & Mackay Distillers Ltd.
In 1990 White & Mackay Distillers Ltd. was purchased by American Brands.

Although Dalmore can hardly considered to be an 'obscure' distillery, I haven't actually tried that many different expressions so far. The standard 12yo bottling has kept my happy throughout many evenings in the early 1990's, but after that the focus of my search shifted to malts that I hadn't tried before.
Here is an overview of the expressions I've tried so far.

Dalmore NAS Cigar Malt (43%, OB, Bottled +/- 2000)
I've seen it on several occasions but never got around to seriously sampling it. The nose was much more like the 'normal' 12yo than I expected; sweet and malty. Yeah, maybe a little smokier than usual, but nothing like the 'bonfire' I expected. A little tobacco, perhaps. One difference becomes more and more obvious over time, though: it seems more sherried than the normal 12yo. Hey, maybe that was the point? I guess you wouldn't try to make a very 'smoky' whisky to complement a 'smoky' cigar. In fact, you would be looking for something very sweet and smooth. Anyway, there was some more smoke on the palate, but once again much more subtle than I had expected. Score: 80 points - recommendable.

Dalmore 12yo (43%, OB, Bottled +/- 1977, 75cl)
Nose: Wow! Loads of organics. An 'old school' malt. Extremely rich with a noble sweetness. Leather.
More spices. Tea. Now I get some funky fruity notes. Like gooseberries, but just a tad more 'herbal'.
From the empty glass the organics are even more obvious. Sellery - could that be an 'antique' marker?
Taste: Heavy sherry and some smoke at first. Magnificent sweet and smooth centre. Like a liqueur.
Coffee. The woody notes become more obvious over time and I also found a 'Buysman' bitterness.
After five more minutes I got more pine resin and maybe just the faintest hint of liquorice root.
Score: 92 points - what a knockout malt! Thanks for sharing this blast from the past, Luc!
I think Dalmore just may have earned itself an extra star on the 'still score' scale here.

Dalmore 12yo (43%, OB, 100cl, Bottled +/- 1995)
This has become a big favourite of mine since I discovered it in the early 1990's.
It's accessible and affordable. It has an overwhelming bouquet, very round & sweet.
The taste disappoints just a bit after the "nostril symphony" but is still very satisfying.
A very quick taste-development, peppery bitterness followed by a long, burning warmth.
Score: 80 points - like all my other bottles of the Dalmore 12yo so far, at least half a dozen.

Dalmore 12yo (43%, OB, 100cl, Bottled +/- 2000)
Nose: Needs a minute. Then lots of fruit and sherry emerge.
Malt and smoke? Salmiac? Big and round. Wonderful complexity.
Taste: Nice! Sherry at first. Big and sweet. Spicy. Toffee.
Great development - it just becomes richer and richer. Orange peel?
Woody later on. Some peat and salt in the finish. This malt has it all.
Score: 80 points - it seems to be a little bigger on the palate than previous bottlings.

Dalmore 20yo (43%, Duncan McBeth, Bottled 1971, 75cl)
Nose: Fruity and slightly dusty. My grandmother's dried apples. Honey. Elegant and quite lovely.
Faint touch of dry heather after weeks without rain. A very subtle hint of antiquity. Coffee? Lovely!
That being said, it doesn't show a lot of development, depth or complexity. Great but not stellar.
Taste: Whoaah! Sweet with much more obvious 'antiquity' - and could that be a hint of peat?
Here's the honey again. Smooth on the surface but with a serious bite at the back of the throat.
Maybe a touch of leather? It feels just a tad thin at first - and a little too gritty in the finish for me.
Score: 89 points - great and extremely pleasant, but not quite enough 'depth' for a score in the 90's.

Dalmore 21yo (43%, OB, Bottled +/- 2000)
I'm not completely sure, but I suspect this batch was bottled around 2000. I'm a big fan of the 12yo OB because it's good and affordable, but somehow I've never gotten around to sampling the more expensive varieties.The nose was polished, round and sweet - but not very powerful. If memory serves, it's fairly similar to the profile of the 12yo, but a tad more sherried and refined. The palate was malty and just a tad bitter. The finish didn't last very long. Reflecting on the experience, I'd go with 81 points - not worth the price difference with the 12yo, IMHO.
 
 
 

After that things become confusing; according to some sources 'American
Brands' was renamed to 'JBB (Greater Europe) plc.' in 1995, but others claim
that that was the new name for 'Whyte & Mackay Distillers', assumed in 1996.
Whatever the case, all sources seem to agree that JBB (Greater Europe) was
bought from Fortune Brands by Kyndal Spirits in 2001, who changed the name
back to Whyte & Mackay Ltd. Yes, I told you it was a bit confusing, did I not?
Dalmore isn't the only distillery owned by Whyte & Mackay when I write this;
Old Fettercairn and Isle of Jura are part of their 'stable' as well. The same
goes for Tamnavulin, but that distillery is silent when I write this (early 2006).

Trivia about Dalmore:   Dalmore was the first malt whisky to be exported to Australia (1870).
 
One of the most expensive bottles of whisky sold so far was a 62yo Dalmore sold at an auction by McTears.
This particular bottle switched ownsers for a little over 25,000 GBP - and according to our fellow malt maniac
Charlie MacLean the guy who bought it shared it with his friends; the bottle was finished in a single evening.
 
Hey, that anonymous yet infamous guy sounds a lot like potential malt maniacs material if you ask me ;-)