The Dalmore King Alexander III

Regal, unapologetic and impeccably well-travelled. King Alexander III is not so much a single malt as a well-cut dinner jacket with a passport full of stamps.

The name comes from 1263, when an ancestor of the Mackenzie clan is said to have saved King Alexander III from a charging stag — the reason a twelve-pointed stag has sat on every Dalmore bottle since. The whisky earns the theatre. Master distiller Richard Paterson's team married spirit from six different cask types to build it: American white oak ex-bourbon, Matusalem Oloroso sherry butts, Madeira barrels, Marsala casks, port pipes and Cabernet Sauvignon wine barriques. Six is an absurd number of variables to control. That it comes out balanced rather than muddled is the achievement.

The nose gives chocolate and nuts, both flesh and shell, with toffee and spiced raisin over vanilla. The palate opens sweet — orange and vanilla first, then sweet raisin, raspberry and a distinctly winey note from the Cabernet casks — and the finish turns drier and darker, all spiced oak, polished wood and a twist of liquorice root. Everything is plush and controlled. It bottles at 40%, which keeps it soft rather than assertive. This is a bottle for making an entrance or ending a long dinner: less instruction manual, more velvet armchair.

How to Serve

Neat in a tulip glass at room temperature. At 40% it does not need water and will not thank you for much — a drop at most. No ice; you would lose the fruit entirely.

Where to Drink It

The Connaught Bar, which suits it exactly. Scarfes Bar at the Rosewood for the armchairs and the books. Dukes Bar in St James's as a nightcap.

Food Pairings

Aged Comte or a hard sheep's cheese with real salt to it — the savoury foil does more for this whisky than anything sweet. Roast game works too, particularly venison. If you must have chocolate, keep it very dark and keep it brief.