
July 14, 2016

Little duets, today Glencadam

Another single malt that’s rather uncommon. I remember Jim McEwan telling me (and everyone) that beside Bruichladdich, Glencadam was his favourite malt whisky.

Glencadam 17 yo ‘Triple Cask Portwood Finish’ (46%, OB, 1128 bottles, +/-2015)

My my my, what a pedigree! Couldn’t we talk more about barley or yeast one day? It’s becoming tiring, really. Hope the Scots will stop at quintuple casks, or it’s going to become like in watchmaking in the 1960s, 32 jewels, 43 jewels, 65 jewels – while most of those jewels were just anecdotal, for advertising purposes. Colour: gold. Nose: a funny feeling of a blend of sangria with mint leaves, plus Ovaltine and butterscotch. Mars bar. What’s good is that the Port tends to become relatively discreeter, apart from these wee touches of raspberries. Not un-nice. Mouth: spicy, even peppery arrival, with strong herbal teas. Cherry stems, peach leaves, these sorts of things. On top of that, raspberry jelly babies, café latte, and green pepper. The whole is a little dissonant, I think. Certainly not bad, but I feel it lacks coherence and cohesion. Finish: rather long, peppery and raspberry-jelly-like. Maltier aftertaste. Comments: I’m having troubles understanding this one. I know it’s good to widen a range of products from a marketing POV, but I feel this one went too far from base. SGP:571 - 77 points.

Glencadam 43 yo 1972/2015 (47%, Signatory Vintage, hogshead, cask #7820, 95 bottles)

A super mini outturn. Ah, 1972, wasn’t it one of the best vintages ever for Scotch? Provided vintages do make sense with whisky? What’s sure is that sister cask #7821, bottled in 2001 at a much younger age for SV’s famous ‘Silent Stills’ series, had been very ‘bubblegummy’. Fourteen more years may have fixed that. Colour: gold. Nose: ah, these lovely mentholy old casks! Barley water, fresh almond paste, crushed mint leaves, raisins, overripe apples (cider), honeycomb, mild Virginia tobacco, old chardonnay… And, above all and everything, bags and bags of dried figs. Love dried figs. Mouth: it doesn’t harm the OB, it kills it. The oak’s a little loud at times (strong mint-flavoured tea) but all is well since balance is kept and since this mentholy freshness works so well. For me. More dried figs, bergamots, chamomile, earl grey, peppermint… And then more cinnamon and nutmeg from the oak. Plus a little lemon. Finish: long, fresh. One of the rare very zesty and fresh old oaks. Comments: super-mega-hyper good old Glencadam. You just gotta enjoy mint. SGP:561 - 89 points.

Check the index of all Glencadam I've tasted so far