Cadenhead’s Glencadam 10yo
Original Collection | 46% ABV
Score: 6/10
Good stuff.
TL;DR
A different Glencadam altogether
Word of mouth
It can really point you in the direction of new releases and even brands you’ve never tasted before.
Sharing is indeed caring. It’s a way in which I can get through a bottle much quicker than drinking it all myself. A lot of my recent whisky purchases have been with sharing in mind. While interested in new bottles, brands and expressions, I’m always keen to find out about what others might think of a particular whisky: Have they had something similar before? Do they know of anything along the same flavour profile?
The whisky community is very generous, with sample swaps happening all the time and there’s always someone who can throw you a sample of something you just missed out on, or didn’t have an opportunity to get your hands on when released. For example, anything from J&A Mitchell (shoutout to Archibald hooking me up with a Springbank 15, and our mechanic Jackie for throwing me over any and all Campbeltown whiskies he has as samples. I owe you both big time).
It’s with the community and the Dramface writing team that I'm kept up to date on the latest outturn of expressions or indie bottlings. As much as FOMO can strike us all at any time, there’s hundreds of expressions out there (not limited to scotch) that I won’t be able to sample. Through the sheer time it would take, and what flavours I am chasing at any given time, it’s not sustainable to try everything. But I’ll do my best to taste everything.
News of this Glencadam for today’s review, released alongside a nice looking Aultmore and Springbank, piqued my interest. I’m a big fan of the official 10 year old, which I assume is matured wholly in bourbon casks. A delicious whisky that scored quite highly with Earie’s review here on Dramface. It was my fellow whisky geek Jackie Muir who’d shown me his scores for the 2023 winter run from Cadenhead’s, a list of solid releases in my opinion. He’d mentioned the sherry sweetness of the Glencadam and it was also spotting the bottle being opened by a self-professed Glencadam fan, aWhiskyBond, where I added it to the auction search list to nab a bottle.
It’s hard to go wrong and hard to misplace your trust when buying any of the expressions from Cadenhead’s. I’ve been very lucky recently when searching auction sites to pick a few warehouse and originals bottlings, with auction sites being the predominant platform for my purchases these past three months or so. Following Whisky Rover over the years on Instagram brought me on to all things Cadenhead’s. Those indie bottles were ubiquitous on my social media feed, while I was hunting away on Amazon and the local supermarket for my next bottle… I daren’t venture into the world of indie bottlings or even know where to start. There’s a level of trust with an independent bottler such Cadenhead’s. Maybe it’s with them being Scotland’s oldest indie bottler, or the simplicity in their ethos, but I can take a gamble with any purchase of the release run - the same can be said with Signatory Vintage. To me, stripping back all the bells and whistles from the official bottles, packaging and marketing that comes along with it makes me focus more on the liquid and really pay attention to what’s in the bottle.
I think the bottle shape of these Cadenhead’s original and Warehouse Collection bottles are fabulously unique. That small, stumpy bottle reminds me of something from whisky making from 100 years ago. Where ripped parchments of paper were thrown on the same shaped bottle and it was shared among friends or stored for a rainy day. I find the same love for bottle shapes with Woodford Reserve bottles too. Those flat and thin bottles make me think about bottles of hooch in the Wild West. Anyway, I'm digressing - on to this Glencadam.
Review
Glencadam 10yo, Cadenhead’s Original Collection, 75% oloroso, 25% bourbon cask, 46% ABV
£55 sold out (£50 paid at auction)
I missed this when it was released due to budget constraints, but managed to pick up a bottle at auction. Luckily, I got it around the same price as it retailed.
This Cadenhead’s release is a mix of 75% oloroso sherry casks and 25% bourbon cask maturation. It states on the bottle it’s matured in oak, it is non chill-filtered and natural colour. The only gripe I have with Cadenhead's labels are the lack of additional information. Maybe the generic label with the distillery name, age and ABV is a cheaper option, but something a bit more in terms of the cask variation and bottle turnout would be of benefit.
Nose
A dark dram with a thick, sherry influenced note right up front. Warm pencil rubber, damp wood and caramels announce themselves at first, then you can delve a little deeper here given the approachable ABV. Fresh tinned fruit such as cherries, cubed melon and pineapple slices coated in a sugar syrup. There’s a nice mix of red grapes, dates and raisins in there too, with a hint of leather and cinnamon lurking around with a few wisps now and again. Some of the foundational Glencadam spirit can be found sleeping away with a lovely rounding out of tropical fruits, some floral notes and a lick of bread dough. A really lovely nose.
Palate
Quite bold. Maple syrup sweetness and a tiny waft of smoke. Plums, strawberries and honey-soaked oats. There are lovely fresh sherry elements to this whisky. Hints of ground ginger, raisins and dense muscovado sugar. This has a great long lasting fruity element which is quite the norm for a Glencadam. I’d describe it as unctuous, as it coats the mouth really well with a medium to long finish that holds on to spice with a lick of wood throughout.
The Dregs
This is a solid whisky and very different to the standard Glencadam 10. I forgot how good that official bottle was with its incredible foundation of malt, tropical fruit and fresh mouthfeel. The sherry on the nose reminded of the recent Glenturret 12 release, with a wonderfully sweet palate. The staple Glencadam flavour profile is in there, but a little more subdued compared to the original 10. It has a nice sherry sweetness with extra spice, and that little touch of smoke I could pick out was a surprise. Very glad I found this for a decent price and I think it’ll be emptied fairly quickly, alongside the perma-shelf Glencadam 10 standard edition.
A good release from Cadenhead’s in what was a strong outturn and one bottle ticked off the list of many that I'm still on the hunt for. I’ll share as much of this as I can and if you see this for sale, grab it. The official 10 year old from Glencadam is better though, hence my scoring. I agree with Earie in the 7/10 review. This just doesn't have enough of the Glencadam foundation to push it alongside and merit the same score.
Score: 6/10
Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. HF
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