This Whisky Flight At New York's St. Regis Costs $700

Currently offered at the King Cole Bar at the St. Regis in New York City, The Dalmore Experience is a flight of legendary The Dalmore whiskies. Including the 18 Year, King Alexander III, 25 Year, and 35 Year varieties, the flight's whiskies were nosed and assessed by The Dalmore's brand master distiller of 50 years, Richard Paterson. Priced at $700, this flight is only offered while supplies last.

To learn more about The Dalmore Experience and the brand as a whole, I spoke to both Jason Moore, Single Malt Specialist at The Dalmore, and Will Rentschler, director of food and beverage at The St. Regis New York.

The Daily Meal: How did this collaboration between The Dalmore and the St. Regis come about?
Jason Moore, Single Malt Specialist at The Dalmore: ​The King Cole Bar is among the most storied bars in the city. It has always been known as a destination for rare spirits. Because of that, there is a natural connection between The Dalmore and The King Cole Bar. Being one of the few places in the country to enjoy a Dalmore 35, the St. Regis saw an opportunity to offer a one-of-a-kind experience to its guests.
Will Rentschler, director of Food & Beverage at The St. Regis New York: ​We wanted to provide a unique and exclusive whiskey tasting experience for our guests – and the Dalmore, with their great range of single malt scotches was able to achieve that, particularly with their 35-year-old.

How do you describe The Dalmore Experience?
Moore: The Dalmore Experience is a legendary flight of The Dalmore whiskies. The flight allows whisky enthusiasts and interested spirit connoisseurs an experience to taste the apex of whisky. Each blend is nosed and assessed by the brand's master distiller and later matched with wood profiles, resulting in a complex flavor portrait, which the Dalmore takes great pride in.
Rentschler: ​It's exactly that – an experience. It usually lasts anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour, depending on how much time the guest would like to spend on each whisky. We have a beautiful glencairn for each individual whisky so that the notes from each one can be truly appreciated. Over the course of the tasting, you can see how much the spirit changes over time as it ages all the way from an 18 Year to a 35 Year.

How long does The Dalmore Experience go until?
Moore: The Dalmore Experience is available until the rare product is no longer available.
Rentschler: ​Until we run out of our bottle of 35 Year Whisky.

Do you remember the first time you ever tasted Dalmore?
Moore: Yes, long before becoming a specialist, I attended a tasting with Richard Paterson. Richard's passion had an immediate impact on my journey with single malt whisky. Richard led the group through a proper nosing and tasting of The Dalmore 18, and I was immediately hooked. The beautiful notes of dark chocolate, candied orange, and freshly ground coffee were unforgettable.
Rentschler:​ Must have been five or six years ago with some friends – one of them had a bottle of the 18 Year Whisky and we were celebrating an engagement.

To you, what makes The Dalmore more special than other whiskies?
Moore: ​I would say the passion and complex processes that go into creating each unique whisky from The Dalmore. The Dalmore has been a pioneer in the art of maturation and has reputation for maturing its whiskies for longer and in a greater variety of casks than many other distilleries. Moreover, The Dalmore has sourced sherry casks directly from Jerez's most prestigious sherry bodega, Gonzalez Byass, for more than 100 years. It also enjoys exclusive access to casks used to create some of the most distinguished wine labels in Spain, impossible for any other distillery to procure.
Rentschler: ​[The Dalmore whiskies] mature in used American Oak casks like all other Scotch Whiskies first, but the finishing in Gonzalez Byass sherry casks, hand-selected by the master distiller, provide an unmatched flavor profile that we feel is very unique to its scotch.

Is it spelled "whiskey" or "whisky"?
Moore: In the case of The Dalmore, it is spelled whisky. The Dalmore is a Scottish distillery and as such produces Scotch whisky. In Ireland, they produce Irish whiskey. The difference comes from the translation from Scottish Gaelic versus Irish Gaelic.

Dalmore Experience aside, what's coming up for your brand?
Moore: The next addition to The Dalmore's rare and limited range will be The Dalmore 40, which will be released in the U.S. in August. Having been laid down to cask by Richard 40 years ago, this expression was maturated in American white oak ex-bourbon casks, before being transferred into 30 Year Gonzalez Byass Matusalem oloroso sherry butts and finally finished in first fill bourbon barrels. The result is a liquid offering a multitude of aromas including Columbian coffee and marmalade. On the palate, gingerbread and honey are followed by generous notes of blood oranges over ripe Bramley apples and liquorice sticks. The whisky is housed in a decanter designed by artisans at renowned French crystal house Baccarat. We are very excited about this rare release.
Rentschler: ​We're always looking for ways to provide unique and exciting experiences for our guests. We realize that the spirits world is producing so many great products and we just want to be able to provide them with a great dram and an even better story. For what that next story might be – we're still working out the details.

Is there something you wish more people knew about your brand?
Moore: ​The Dalmore is a boutique distillery that has been at the forefront of making the world's most complex whiskies since 1839. While it's not the first single malt whisky one might try, it will surely be the whisky you graduate to.