Glencadam 15 Year Old

When drinking with my friends, I tend to go on about this distillery. They aren’t particularly well known, but that’s part of the fun I suppose. I’ve tried several from their core range and so far there hasn’t been a dud amongst them. If you haven’t tried them yet, give them a go. This bottle of the 15 year old is has been open for 6 months and is just under half full at the time of this review.

Nose: In keeping with the house style, this is immediately clean and fresh. Honey, ginger, grass, gooseberries, peaches, pears, and a hint of cranberry. There’s also something tropical here, like pineapple and faint coconut, but these notes aren’t as vivid as they are in the 10.

Palate: Medium, yet it maintains a good dose of creaminess, both in texture and in flavour. More bitter than the nose suggested, with grapefruit, grass, honey, wild cherry, and berries.

Finish: Medium in length. Grapefruit, cream, banana, black forest cake, ginger, and oranges. I often praise dynamism in a finish, but here I’m enjoying the consistency of flavour, which stays very true to the palate.

This is a lovely whisky. However I might like it even more if I weren’t comparing it to its siblings. The freshness, vibrancy, and sharpness of the 10 and the rich complexity of the 21 elevate them over the 15 in my opinion. But the bitter fruitiness is unique, the consistency between the palate and finish is good, and the crisp, delicate Glencadam house style never fails to satisfy. Recommended.

I did a tasting session (while watching Liverpool v Everton) last weekend comparing this malt with Tomintoul’s 14 year. These malts are very similar weights and ages, matured in largely if not exclusively plain wood and both purport no colouring and non-chill filtered so I thought it would be an interesting comparison.

The Glencadam is also very light, maybe a touch more colour than the Tomintoul. The nose is very light and ethereal with some fruity peachy notes but nothing very definite. The palate is very well melded with a dry almost dusty delivery. I’ve always found malts from this distillery very difficult to describe because they don’t taste of anything much but themselves. There is quality here and it’s probably best to just sit back and enjoy it rather than struggle to describe it... note to self.

It does not compare well with the far more expressive Tomintoul so that definitely wins in the head to head, unlike the football match which ended 1-1, although neither malt had anything to match the stunning late equaliser from Phil Jagielka.

My 60th Scottish distillery: Glencadam and what better way to get my first taste of this distillery by not trying its entry level whisky. This is a review of the 15yo whisky, a whisky that was described by Jim McEwan as the next best thing to Bruichladdich (dixit whiskyfun)

Let's dive in: Colour: straw (as unchillfiltered and no colour added) with nice long legs

Nose: Soft and fruity on the nose, with notes of citrus, fresh wood shavings, some vanilla, with complex aromas of raspberries & strawberries. Underlying layers with a soft touch of iodine, some flour, apples and a whiff of roasted chestnuts (with water added: empowered strawberry aromas)

Mouth: Dry in the mouth, not that much on the palate, some Eucalyptus and citrus. The initial sensation is underwhelming. And then comes the burst of flavour: very fresh and very fruity with more strawberries, a touch of cinnamon, tones of fresh cut grass, and bitter cherry (with water added: vanilla flavoured layers reveal themselves and become more distinct, unfortunately)

Finish: the real beauty lies within in the tail: long and zesty, a little bit bitter and dry. With formidable notes of lemon balm with a hint of thyme and most importantly strawberries!!!!!. Even tough its bitter and dry, it is still quite fresh.

Conclusion: Another great whisky, makes me want to try the other Glencadam expressions as well.

One important remark here: drink this whisky neat. The nose might see some improvement, as it is far to soft when its poured from a fresh bottle. (Not sure how it will develop over time...). No my main argument to keep you from dropping a dash of water into your dram is that it ruins the palate by empowering the vanilla notes.

A great versatile whisky, complex and refined with some notes of strawberry. I've only encountered a similar profile before, with an independent bottling of Old Pulteney ( though the flavours were far more prominent there with a much more interesting transformation process). Not sure where these strawberry esters come from, but their origins are closely linked with the amount of water added, allowing for the whisky to be broke up. Single malts with a unique and distinct fruity profile are that kind of whisky that I do so enjoy.

Keep your vanilla flavoured miscarriages or light citrussy whiskies, I'm rolling with the fruity, sherried or peated crowd.

A bit thin on the palate, but there are lots of pleasant aromas and flavours to discern in this whisky. Thankfully this expression is now bottled at 43%. Nose: Barley malt and citrus fruit, lychees and peach. Taste: Soft malt, sweet spice (hot cross buns) bit watery. Finish: Short soft and sweet.