A big, crisp, dry and very aromatic nose with hints of heather and peat

Dalwhinnie ™ is one of my favorite single malt scotches!!!  I came to this much sought-after single malt through allot of years of drinking blended scotch whiskeys like Johnnie Walker Black.  However, one has to work their way up to this smoky taste.  Among single malt scotch aficionados, Dalwhinnie™ is known for its Long, lingering, surprisingly intense finish that starts sweetly, then gives way to smoke, peat and malt, not typicalof a Highland scotch.  It became one of my favorites because I usually smoke cigars when I am drinking scotch.  I have found that very few single malts can be tasted through cigar smoke on the palate; certainly none of the “Highland” or “Speyside” scotches can stand up to a cigar!  Thus, Dalwhinnie ™ is a sipping scotch for me in the summer.
 
Dalwhinnie ™ is most often described as “Smooth, soft and lasting flavours of heather, honey sweetness and vanilla followed by deeper citrus-fruit flavours and hints of malted bread.” 

How does Dalwhinnie ™ come by its unique flavor?  According to their web site: “When the water you start with comes from the highest mountain source of any malt, you expect something rather fine. And Dalwhinnie™, for whisky writer Roger Voss a "surprisingly soft whisky...from Scotland's highest, most remote distillery", does not disappoint. The source, Lochan an Doire-Uaine, (Gaelic for "lake in the green grove"), lies at 2,000 feet in the Drumochter Hills. From it, all the pure spring water used in distilling Dalwhinnie™ flows over rich local peat through Allt an t'Sluic, the distillery burn. No other distillery may use the water from this source – therefore no other distillery is able to yield Dalwhinnie’s™ uniquely clean, accessible, malty-sweet taste, giving way to a smooth and smoky Highland mouthfeel.  The style is that of the Highlands; a resilient marriage of gentleness and spirit. As befits a malt from such a place, Dalwhinnie™ defies simple description. Too gratifying for an aperitif alone, yet too gentle and delicate to be thought rugged or unapproachable; this combination of delicacy and depth sets it apart.”

“The Highland peatiness is very restrained at first, balanced by heathery sweetness, but intensifies toward the finish. Clear flavours against a very clean background. A good aperitif.”
 
Dalwhinnie ™  has a “A big, crisp, dry and very aromatic nose with hints of heather and peat.”

I suggest that if you are serious about trying single malt scotches, you do it by tasting “THE SIX CLASSIC MALTS OF SCOTLAND” of United Distillers. They are particularly selected to best represent each of the malt whiskey producing regions of Scotland.  They embrace the full diversity of regional tastes and styles.