Cu Dhub Black Whisky

Ah, the Black Whisky! Who does not remember the (awful) Loch Dhu 10 Year Old from the Mannochmore distillery? But after the withdrawal of this product, there was a gap in the market. At least, that is what the Danish company Mac Y A/S/ must have thought when they decided to bring a similar black whisky to the market. They use the legend of the Witch of Laggan in the forrest of Gaick, who is hunted by big black dogs, as their marketing strategy. Cú Dhub (say ‘kaddoo’) is Gaelic for black dogs; the beasts are prominently displayed on the label that was designed by the Danish artist Astrid Holmriis. Mannochmore would not touch it for the obvious reasons, so Mac Y had to find another distillery willing to deliver the ‘new’ black whisky. Apparently the whisky is produced at the Speyside distillery, but heavily tinted with spirit caramel by Mac Y, to give it the distinctive dark color.

Honeysweet nose that immediately puts it in the liqueur category as far as I am concerned. Coffee, burnt wood, lukewarm Guinness, pipe tobacco, bubblegum and a green pond. Licorice? In fact, it is not so bad – for a liqueur, not a single malt.

On the palate, however, it goes very wrong. Watery attack and immediately immensely bitter. Cold coffee mixed with garden herbs, soya sauce, perfume, rotting oranges (which can actually be quite good) and aspartaam.

Luckily the finish is pretty short.

Well, it is not as bad as the terrible Loch Dhu, but one can hardly call this a good whisky. I have trouble even terming it whisky. It is rather a cocktail ingredient or party drink for youngster like Bacardi Breezer. Dirt cheap with a price tag of less than 30 EUR, which seems to confirm the demographic. I sincerely doubt this will appeal to whisky aficionados. However. They are crazy about this in Scandinavia, especially Denmark, where it wins gold medals. They even released a Cú Dhub 10 Year Old, imagine that!