Caperdonich 24 Year Old 1992 Duncan Taylor The Octave

After several years of maturation on bourbon casks, this Caper was given a finish on Octaves, small casks that ensure more interaction between the whisky and the wood. Only 51 bottles were drawn from this little cask at a relatively low strength. Here we go.

Soft nose on white fruit with the emphasis on sweet and sour Granny Smith apples. Icing sugar. Some hay. Some ginger. Very accessible, but in all honesty a little bit too soft to my taste.

It shows the same sweet and sour traits on the palate with next to the apples also a lot of citrus, something that reminds me of quinine and candied orange peel. Much better – and spicier (again ginger) – than the nose promised. But I would certainly not call this complex. What I do appreciate it a surprisingly smoky touch. Woodsmoke?

The medium long finish is very spicy, sweet and sour. The smoke is now unmistakable. Where does that come from, I wonder. The cask, right?

Very quaffable but not complex Caperdonich. I do appreciate the fact that the small cask has not overpowered the malt. Just under 400 EUR. No matter how good a whisky is… that is a lot of money. And being far from the best Caperdonich I have tried, I’ll pass.

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