Cadenhead’s Warehouse tasting: Wee toon adventures, part two

Sampling whisky in the comfort of your home is all fine and dandy, but nothing beats going to the source. For the next week or so, I will take a short break from reviews to share some highlights from a recent short visit to Campbeltown, or, as it is locally known, the Wee Toon. Following the post on the Watt Whisky tasting, in today’s post I share the whiskies I sampled at  Cadenhead’s Warehouse tasting.

I mentioned in the first episode of these Wee Toon adventures that there would be no post about Springbank. Indeed and “sadly”, since the tour I was hoping to attend was not available on the days I was in Campbeltown, I will have to come back to make up for that. (Any excuse is a good one!) Nonetheless, besides the obvious visit to the distillery shop, I did have a chance to visit the grounds and one of the warehouses via the Cadenhead’s tasting.

The Oldest Independent Bottler

WM Cadenhead’s, founded in 1842 in Aberdeen, is considered Scotland’s oldest independent bottler. While the company does indeed anticipate other IBs, it seems the independent bottling business only started in 1904 with Robert Duthie, Cadenhead’s nephew. But let’s not let facts stand in the way of a good story. After somewhat alternating fortunes, the company was eventually sold to Springbank Distillery owners J. & A. Mitchell and Co. and the headquarters moved to Campbeltown, where they remain to date.  

Cadenhead’s has built a reputation for its non-chill-filtered and non-caramel-coloured single malt whiskies. The company has also been increasingly experimenting with bottling other spirits, such as rum, bourbon and more, such as a recent Rye release from Finnish distillery Kyrö. The Campbeltown shop offers a huge choice of independently bottled Scottish distilleries and it is hard not to feel like a kid in a candy shop when entering its doors. And yet there is even more. The Cadenhead’s warehouse tasting offers a chance to sample six exclusive bottlings which are only available to purchase to attendees of the tasting. 

My (hastily) scribbled notes

Below you will find my quick impressions of the five whiskies I tasted. There is no formal review or vote, as that would require some more time and resampling. I am listing the whiskies in the order they were offered. All six were captivating whiskies to try, but three stood out and you will find them called out below.

Linkwood – Glenlivet

On the nose, rich white and yellow fruit (pear, peach, apricot, lemon peel, vanilla, a hint of ginger spice and clean laundry. Creamy malt-rich palate with more ripe fruit notes. Medium long finish, rich tea biscuits, vanilla, a hint of spice and milk chocolate.

Having recently sampled a couple of ex-Bourbon IB Linkwood, this one might not stand out from the crowd, but it is a very respectable example of the style nonetheless.

Fettercairn

Carcavelos is a fortified wine produced close to Lisbon in Portugal. It is a wine which was close to disappearing and is regaining some popularity. I have seen it sometimes referred to as white Port in whisky reviews, but that is a disservice to both wines as the grape varieties and production methods are different, although some similarities exist. Not having had a chance to sample the wine myself, I rely on tasting notes which read as something between a tawny port and an Oloroso Sherry.

The nose is rich, nutty (marzipan, hazelnut), full of caramel, vanilla, and even a touch of red fruit (sour cherry), with just an ashen note. There is a clear malt note that grows progressively as the whisky opens up. The palate is rich and oily, with nuts, malt, dried fruit and a hint of sweet spice. The flong finish tastes like a raisin malted biscuit covered in milk chocolate.

I may be a victim of the novelty of the Carcavelos cask, or maybe it is the extra age vs the rest of the flight. Be as it may, this was my standout whisky of the tasting.

Knockdhu

The PX smacks you on the nose immediately, figs and dates, walnut, leather, fancy wax-based wood polish, then baked apple, quince and even a touch of cola. The palate is all figs, dates, nuts, milk chocolate and malt. On the finish, the PX comes back stronger than ever, with notes of fig, raisin, ocha, walnuts and an incongruous hint of honey.

A Sherry-lover crowdpleaser. If Knockdhu ever decides to release a Christmas-themed OB, they might want to look at this bottling for inspiration. My third favourite dram of the flight, almost too much, but not the worst for it.

An Orkney Distillery

Almost fizzy on the nose. There is tropical fruit, vanilla, lemon sherbet, the signature heather and honey of Highland Park and a touch of peat ash. The youth and abv are very evident on the palate. This is hot and spicy, though the notes of pineapple, vanilla and malt still manage to come through. The finish is medium-short, quite simple with pineapple, malt a hint of peat and a slight bitterness to round things off.

Let’s call it what it is, this is a young 100% ex-Bourbon Highland Park. The chance to try the HP spirit without Sherry influence alone makes it a whisky I was excited to try. It is still a bit young and hot, and I should have taken some time to add water and dilute it down a bit to better appreciate it. Would love to try this with 5-6 extra years of ageing and a little less abv.

Paul John (cask sample)

Compared to the Scottish drams in the flight this comes immediately across as warmer and more tropical. The nose has rich tropical fruit, dark caramel, sugar cane juice, tangerine and tonka bean. The peat is there but more in the background. On the palate and finish, the peat takes a more prominent role, though the tropical fruit, caramel and sugar cane notes remain.

My experience with Indian whisky is extremely limited so judging this was really out of my comfort zone. I have to admit that for a second I thought it wasn’t even whisky. Intriguing for sure.

Bunnahabhain

The nose opens with some mild typical Islay medicinal peat, followed by candied lemon, raisin, hazelnuts, salted pretzel, milk chocolate and a hint of green peppercorn. The palate is noticeably more peat-driven, both medicinal and smoky, with malted barley grist, salted toasted almonds and raisin. The finish is medium with a nice balance of peat and Amontillado sherry notes.

My second favourite dram of the day. The peated Bunnahabhain spirit together with the elegant Amontillado finish work great. The reductive notes from the Amontillado provide gentler nutty notes and fresher aromas than what Oloroso brings to the table.

The Cadenhead’s warehouse tasting is a great opportunity to sample some intriguing IBs and maybe some slightly less usual cask finishes that might not make it onto the official shop shelves. It might have been a fall back from my original plan to attend Spingbank’s Barley to Bottle tour, still a very enjoyable consolation prize.

I hope you enjoyed this overview and stay tuned for the final leg of my Wee Toon adventures on Sunday.

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