Cadenhead's Authentic Collection North British 21 Year Old Cask Strength Single Grain Whisky (700ml)
The firm of William Cadenhead Ltd, Wine and Spirit Merchants, was founded in 1842 and is Scotland's oldest independent bottler. The company was in the ownership of the same family until taken over by J & A Mitchell & Co.Ltd in 1972, the proprietors of Springbank distillery. Today, Cadenhead is legendary for bottling excellent single cask whiskies. The company places particular emphasis on the individuality and purity of each bottling. All whiskies are bottled undiluted at their natural maturing strength and are not subject to any artificial processing such as chill filtering or the addition of caramel.
Single grain whisky in this form is a most unusual sight, even on the shelves of passionate whisky retailers like ourselves. Being single grain, its primary use is to stretch out blended scotch whiskies such as J&B, Johnnie Walker, Grants and Ballantines, so in comparison to single malts, single grains are normally much maligned. The whisky can be produced from almost any type of grain, however the most commonly used examples are wheat and corn.
This peculiar bottling comes from the North British distillery, located just outside of Edinburgh. The distillery produces grain whisky for famous blends such as J&B, Cutty Sark, The Famous Grouse and Johnnie Walker. North British never bottle whisky under their own label. So whilst almost any whisky lover would have tried a whisky to which North British has contributed, very few whisky lovers would have had the opportunity to taste it on its own.
Thanks to Cadenhead’s uncanny ability to source incredibly distinctive and rare whiskies, we are delighted offer an extremely limited opportunity to experience this unusual bottling. Putting prejudice aside, we tasted this whisky with an open mind.
'A fantastic, idiosyncratic whisky that defies all the rules!'
Tasting Notes: Pale gold colour with pale straw hue. Lifted aroma, revealing vanilla over a sublte ‘shellac’ quality one encounters in extra aged rums. This whisky seemed ‘tight’ when we first looked at it. It’s a whisky that needs time to settle down in the glass. After a few minutes, the nose unfolds delightful aromas of toasted marshmallow, rolled in coconut, vanilla and sweet cinnamon spice, delivered with a gentle prickle. The palate entry is very soft and sweet, and it takes time for the flavours to build, but by the time you’ve chewed the whisky and gently coaxed out all of the flavour that 21 years in ex Bourbon oak has to offer, you’re left with a whisky to behold. All of the flavours that the nose offered arrive wrapped around a silky palate texture. Vanilla and cinnamon sugar, toasted marshmallow and coconut, in waves, then a warm spicy end note. The very long finish is dry and soft. Long aftertaste of toasted coconut.
228 bottles produced. Matured in Bourbon Oak.
Due to the coarse filter used when bottling this whisky, Some bottles may contain a harmless sediment.
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