Glencadam 22 Year Old / The Rare Casks / Release 4

To be honest when Mike from Abbey Whisky sent me a sample of the Glencadamn 22 Year old along with one of my purchases I was as excited as a little kid who noticed an extra gift below his Christmas tree. However I have to admit, up until then, I was fairly ignorant about this distillery and the spirit that came out from their stills. This obviously made me very curious and impatient to crack it open get down to spending some quality time with the whisky. Unfortunately though this date took a bit longer to come by then I'd have liked, the experience that followed was pretty spectacular. This particular expression is the 4th release from the Rare Cask Series by Abbey Whisky and was distilled in 1991, laid to rest in refill bourbon casks for 22 long years years and then bottled at 55.3% ABV. For all those folks who are sailing on the same boat as me when it comes to knowing more about this distillery, Glencadam is from the Highland region of Scotland and is the only existing distillery from the Angus region. It was mothballed in 2000 and reopened in 2003. Now finally to the spirit itself: Nose: This was one whisky where I really had to push myself to go beyond the nose simply because the wonderful medley of sweet spices, apples, lots of sweet barley notes and oodles of honey just kept me wanting to stay there and enjoy them for a wee bit longer. Surprisingly and rather strangely I could also get some rather strong sherry notes coming through too ...no complaints though. Palate: Once again it all began with those sweet notes of honey which continued from the nose, followed by some peppery spice notes. Two simple words that describe the palate are powerful and creamy. That fear of having a disappointing palate after a fantastic nose had definitely vanished. There were a lot of orangey citrus notes along with other tropical fruits too. I also found some caramel and nuts thrown into the mix too. Finish: A honey comb from the start to the very end with the honey making its distinct presence felt at each stage. A velvety smooth and fairly long finish with more fruit notes along with strong, unmistakable traces of caramel and sweet barely. Wow that was one impressive first time experience!! Top grade whisky... hard to find any shortcoming at all...moves straight up into the list of best whiskies I've had in the past few months. Enough said I guess. A quick thanks once again to Mike for the sample.

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