Thanks to /u/UncleBaldric [+1] for pouring me this dram.
I got to the Caperdonich train really late. It’s already gone dumb and I didn’t get in like I may have with Ledaig or GlenDronach. Which is too bad. Granted I missed the hype train on the original Ardbeg or Brora too, so perhaps that’s just the life of being a whisky geek.
My first Caperdonich was given to me randomly by a whisky friend of mine, which I then promptly forgot about. And then I tried it and was like “Why would I sleep on this?” And then I took a look at the prices and went “Oh, that’s why”.
This used to be “Glen Grant #2” however due to some laws they needed to give it it’s own name. Oh and it was closed in 2001 and then demolished in 2010.
But somehow I’m still surprised at the price (this is very much sarcasm).
Today we have another Caperdonich from 1972 that is a cousin (not quite a sister) cask to the previous I had. All cask strength and ready to go. And that’s all I got.
So let’s see how it tastes, shall we?
Price: £250 (at auction in 2016)
Region: Speyside
Vintage: 1972
Cask Number: 7418
Abv: 56.1%
Colour: 7.5Y 9/6
Nose: Green apple, leather, cardamom, guava
Leather. Yes, I’m going to get to more, but seriously: Leather. You don’t get it often, it pops up sometimes with proper peated whisky, and also with older casks. I’m already sold.
Also there’s a good amount of spice and tropical/not-so-tropical fruit here, but you don’t care about that. Leather is awesome and that’s a hill I’ve died on many a time.
Taste: Orange liquor, candy, gingerbread, molasses, anise cookie
Tart, some alcohol, some strong cookie/baked good notes, some moments where just the spice or just the molasses pops up… Very interesting. Also the spice is going strong here. So strong that Dennis Villeneuve might have been drinking this while working on the film Dune.
Glad it’s grown from the nose here.
Finish: Brown sugar, nutmeg, cream, cardamom, rye bread, leather
More spice. Finishes almost like a rye, but what I imagine a rye would finish like if you finished it in really, really good ex-sherry casks.
And yeah, we still got leather. And that’s a good time. Unless you’re really angry about leather, then maybe don’t drink this.
Conclusion: Spice heavy leather daddy. Good times. Very good times. Doesn’t quite hit the highest of highest, but damn did they use a nice cask for this whisky.
There’s an odd mixture of older rye flavours mixed with older Lowland flavours going on here. Love floral notes. The nose could have a bit more going on but it gives a simple introduction going on.
I love when I get a chance to try a Caperdonich. Gotta try more soon.
85/100
Scotch review #1406, Speyside review #396, Whisky Network review #2083
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