Kategoriarkiv: Cardhu

Cardhu, Speyside

Cardhu 15 YO

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ABV: 40 %
Origin: Speyside
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 3/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and fruity. At first there’s a sweet malty center with a fresh fruitiness on top. It’s apples and pears and the sweetness consists of vanilla, honey and malt together with baking spices. It’s very dessert-like. When it settles there are notes of ginger and toffee. A hint of marzipan can be found as well. This is a nice nose which lacks a bit of power and complexity. It’s very mild but still produces a nice array of sweet things.

Mouth: It starts out with a slight sour and bitter lemon peel note in the back and a malty sweetness and apples up front. There’s a tiny spicyness coming through and it seems connected to an oakiness which arrives together with a dusting of cinnamon. It’s got a beer-like quality to it at this point and the background peel note is pushing forward with time. It’s not as sweet overall as on the nose and the fruitiness is neither especially pronounced at this point. The ginger can still be found.

Finish: The transition is rather uneventful and the lack of power becomes rather obvious. When the flavours return it reaches a sort of middle point between the nose and the mouth with the fruity and sweet dessert-like notes sitting on top of the lemon peel note and a bitter and grey old oakiness. There are some oak notes which suggests that there are some newer casks used as well. This is a good whisky. There’s no complexity and it lacks power, but it delivers a decent mix of flavours.

Additional information
There is no additional information to be found on this whisky. The flavour profile suggest an ex-bourbon/ex-sherry cask mix.

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Cardhu, Speyside

Cardhu Gold Reserve – Game of Thrones House Targaryen

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ABV: 40 %
Origin: Speyside
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 2/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and slightly fruity. Honey, vanilla and toffee are sitting on top of some baked red apples. It’s very mild and nothing really pops from the glass. It’s dusty and there’s just a hint of oak in the back. The toffee note moves forward with time in the glass. It’s very rounded around the edges even if it has a youthness sitting in the back, which manifests as a thin metallic note.

Mouth: A very sweet start with honey and a lemon note quickly passing by. It stays very sweet for a long time with vanilla and toffee slowly moving forward. There’s a white pepper spicyness, but it never really amounts to anything. When it finally sets some of the sweetness aside it slowly reveals a slightly bitter oak, but it just stays in the back. It’s still extremely mild and round like a marble.

Finish: The finish is just a continuation of the sweet and mild parade. A few seconds of honey, vanilla and toffee goes by before it lands in a bland oakiness. It’s a little dusty, but otherwise laid back and it feels like it doesn’t want to be noticed. The toasted flavours do come through though, but they do not do much to create anything. This is too mild and too well rounded to be interesting. It’s definitely a good dram if someone needs an introduction into scotch.

Additional information
The Gold Reserve was first released in 2014 for the european market and they now use the same whisky as a GoT special release. It’s aged in toasted oak barrels.

Cardhu, Speyside

Cardhu Gold Reserve

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ABV: 40 %
Origin: Speyside
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 2/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and fruity. Honey, vanilla and toffee are sitting on top of some baked red apples. It’s very mild and nothing really pops from the glass. It’s dusty and there’s just a hint of oak in the back. The toffee note moves forward with time in the glass. It’s very rounded around the edges even if it has a youthness sitting in the back, which manifests as a thin metallic note.

Mouth: A very sweet start with honey and a lemon note quickly passing by. It stays very sweet for a long time with vanilla and toffee slowly moving forward. There’s a white pepper spicyness, but it never really amounts to anything. When it finally sets some of the sweetness aside it slowly reveals a slightly bitter oak, but it just stays in the back. It’s still extremely mild and round like a marble.

Finish: The finish is just a continuation of the sweet and mild parade. A few seconds of honey, vanilla and toffee goes by before it lands in a bland oakiness. It’s a little dusty, but otherwise laid back and it feels like it doesn’t want to be noticed. The toasted flavours do come through though, but they do not do much to create anything. This is too mild and too well rounded to be interesting. It’s definitely a good dram if someone needs an introduction into scotch.

Additional information
The Gold Reserve was first released in 2014. This is aged in toasted casks. The Cardhu distillate is primarily used in Johnny Walker blends. Cardhu is also very popular, as an example, it’s the best selling whisky in Spain.

Cardhu, Speyside

Cardhu 12 YO

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ABV: 40 %
Origin: Speyside
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 3/5

Tasting notes
Nose: Very fruity and fresh up front and musty and dusty in the back. This results in baked apples with vanilla cream, yellow pears and a fudge note. There’s some oak notes peeking through and sweet black liquorice develop with time in the glass.

Mouth: Very mild. It’s still quite dusty and the vanilla and fudge move forward. The apples are still there, and so are the cream. There’s just a hint of spicyness. Very approachable and (dare I say it) smooth. The oak arrives early and creates a much needed baseline to the other flavours.

Finish: The oak comes through immediately pushing everything aside except a thin fruity green note. The oak is very bright and straight forward. It’s nice, not bitter nor astringent. After a while the oak changes towards assorted tropical fruits. This is not a very complex whisky but it serves well as an easy sipper.

Additional information
The Cardhu distillate is primarily used in Johnny Walker blends, but the single malt is also sold and it’s even the best selling whisky in Spain. They tried to change it to a blended malt somewhere around 2003 but had to change it back after a year or two. The cask type isn’t disclosed but the flavour profile suggest american ex-bourbon barrels.