Glencadam 18 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml)

Rested in ex bourbon barrels and left for no less than 18 years, Jim Murray scored the Glencadam 18 Year Old 96.5/100 in his 2020 Whisky Bible making it one of the highest rated whiskies he's ever reviewed.

Other reviews... Strikes me there is a fraction more first fill cask at play here than usual, ensuring not just a distinctively honeyed, bourbony edge but a drier element also. Distinguished and elegant this is a fabulous, almost unbelievable way to start the new Bible as it has all the hallmarks of a malt likely to end up winning some kind of major award. Somehow I think the bar set here, one fashioned from gold, will be far too high for the vast majority that will follow over the next five months. 46% Alc./Vol. Non chill filtered. 96.5 points - Jim Murray's Whisky Bible 2021

Notes from Glencadam... Palate: Lusciously layered with overlapping stone fruits, dried papaya and Williams pear mingled with creamy cake spices and pink peppercorn spice. Finish: Warming and tingly leaving notes of tinned peach, apricot Danish and a warming wood spice linger.

A first rate whisky in the eyes of blenders, Glencadam has always been sought after by the world’s best known whisky labels. Its new make is characterised by floral notes and orchard fruits, in particular, pear drops, the result of a distillation regime that maximises reflux (the lyne arms on the stills are angled upwards). Refill American oak seems to best suit the distillery style where even at just a decade old, Glencadam offers a delicious co-mingling of fruity-barley sweetness. Further ageing brings an almost buttery texture to the palate. Yet, this is a distillery that's gone unnoticed by more than a few malt afficianados. That's slowly changing as the quality is recognised by more and more whisky lovers. Recent proprietary bottlings have received extraordinary praise from Jim Murray who sums up Glencadam as "... among the world's greatest distilleries producing one of the most charming whiskies of them all."

Glencadam was owned by a David Scott and his descendants from 1827-1891, during which it was rented to various distillers. Over the next few decades the distillery had a succession of owners. Glencadam was mothballed during both world wars, the warehouses instead used to barrack soldiers. There is still a mark on the grass by No. 2 warehouse where their commissary was. Glencadam was bought in the 1950s by Hiram Walker, which subsequently became Allied Domeq, who closed the distillery in 2000. Finally purchased by Angus Dundee Distillers on 1st June 2003, an independent Scottish company, they restarted production immediately, launching Glencadam 15 Year old by December 2005. This was subsequently re-launched in November 2009 with new packaging, alongside the release of a 10 year old expression. More have followed. It remains an important component of the Ballantine’s blends.