The Authentic Collection was launched by Wm. Cadenhead in 1992 for the company’s 150th anniversary. It held rare whisky, often old and from closed distilleries. Later it would act as a replacement for their dumpy bottles.
This Dallas Dhu 1962 was bottled in June 1993. The distillery was closed since 1983 and very few bottlings exist.
Dallas Dhu 30 yo 1962 (53,3%, Cadenhead ‘Authentic Collection’ 1993)
Nose: antique whisky really, with typical hints of wet paper and wet leaves, tusty metal tools, alongside plenty of earth and moss. A sweet grainy note and toffee in the background. Some waxed floors. Library dust. Whiffs of menthol and walnut husks. There’s a feeling of warehouses and old planks in a carpenter’s workshop.
Mouth: a similar style, sweet and spicy with lots of old-school notes that are largely lost in modern whisky. Engine oils, hints of chalk and metals, wet newspapers. Also white pepper and drops of sweet cough syrup and spearmint. Some honeyed cereals as well.
Finish: quite long, becoming more peppery and earthy, with a little liquorice and mint.
Nowadays maybe Springbank would be closest in style, but this has none of the sharpness that we’d expect from Springbank at this strength. Totally unmodern whisky and it’s not coming back.