Origin: Campbeltown (Scotland)
Type: Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Strength: 55%ABV
Ageing cask: Ex-Bourbon barrel
Chillfiltered: No
Additional Coloring: No
Owner: J& A Mitchell & Co Ltd.
Average price: € 150.00
Official website: www.cadenhead.scot
Vote: 89/100
In this valley of tears, in this ordeal of stones and thorns, in this life of disappointment and suffering, very few certainties remain. Two of them are certainly Springbank and the independent bottler Cadenhead’s who today, by a miracle, in the blessed place of the glass, show themselves together before our eyes.
This isn’t the first time this has happened on Whisky Art: the previous one was a 24yo reviewed last summer. But after all, if Our Lady has appeared more than once, why can’t the same happen for Springbank and Cadenhead’s?!
After this premise bordering on the blasphemous, let’s move on to the information that really matters.
Year of distillation: 2011. Ageing: 10 years. Current availability: almost nil.
The series is that Authentic Collection which has already given us not a few satisfactions in the past.
Tasting notes
The colour is a light gold.
On the nose, the first impression is of very ripe yellow apple, with a generous sprinkling of pepper and an almost chemical scent that makes us think of enamel. The smoke is a light touch in the background, like a reassuring caress at the end of the day, and is accompanied by a rather intense note of vanilla, but above all by hints of abate pear and shortcrust pastry. As the minutes pass, we perceive a toffee-like fragrance.
The mouthfeel is ultra-peppery. Here the smoke is a much more robust base than on the nose and supports aromas of pear williams, yellow peach and shortcrust pastry, with an interesting, progressive slide into the tropical (pineapple).
The finish is long, with still some smoke (more like someone has placed a pear peel on an ashtray), pepper and an unusual peach cream.
A whisky that tests one’s knowledge of different types of pear
Jokes aside, a single malt to which it is practically impossible to offer any criticism: the aromatic range is reassuring but not banal, the strength substantial but not overpowering.