Glencadam 11 Year Old 2011 SMWS Single 1st Fill Ex Bourbon Barrel 82.47 Jazz Custard Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky (2023) 70cl

Glencadam 11 Year Old 2011 SMWS Single 1st Fill Ex Bourbon Cask 82.47 Jazz Custard Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky (2023) 70cl

1 of 221 bottles from a single 1st Fill Bourbon Barrel

The SMWS are one of the Britain's most revered independent bottlers with a worldwide network of partner bars with one mission of getting as much whisky at natural cask strength without water to different nations including USA, Canada, Switzerland, UK, Austria, Germany and many others.

These older labels from the first runs are mostly with distillation methods that include direct heat which was replaced with steam for many distilleries for environmental reasons changing the taste of whisky forever. It'll get real interesting when nuclear fusion is used to distil whisky. We might glow green for a few weeks after we drink the stuff. Who knows.... but all we know is that the old stuff has a musky taste that is VERY welcomed by people nowadays trying to time travel through whisky's past.

TASTING NOTES

Aromas of overripe bananas, pears and marzipan combined with fragrant notes of honeysuckle, cherry blossom and lavender, before lemon sponge cake was served with creamy custard. Vanilla continued on to the palate to be joined by glacé cherries, fudge and sugared almonds, plus tongue-tingling wasabi and lemon sherbet. Adding water released rich tea biscuits dusted with icing sugar while a wave of cherry, raspberry and strawberry sweets collided with Turkish delight. Thick custard returned on the palate alongside dried apple, tangerine and more banana, before the spice of mace settled on to a dry yet lively finish.

About Glencadam

Despite nearing 200 years of existence, Glencadam is only now beginning to emerge as a celebrated single malt.

Glencadam’s new make character of flowers and pear drops is a direct result of a distillation regime that maximises reflux – the lyne arms on the stills are angled upwards. Its mature character, especially when matured in refill American oak, has a soft buttery quality that adds a silkiness to the palate.  

Glencadam, which is situated in the Burgh of Brechin, was built in the era of optimism that followed the passing of the 1823 Excise Act. After passing through a number of owners, it became part of the estate of Glasgow blender Gilmour Thompson & Co which bought the distillery in 1891.

The blending house ceased trading in 1954 when Glencadam was sold to Canadian distiller Hiram Walker, which was then starting its first acquisitive sweep through Scotland. Through a process of amalgamation it became part of Allied Distillers and was seen as being the ‘home’ of the Dundee blend Stewart’s Cream of the Barley.

Allied mothballed the plant in 2000 but it was purchased three years later by London-based Angus Dundee [see Tomintoul]. Angus Dundee’s blending lab is now located at the distillery.

A quiet player for most of its existence, Glencadam is slowly emerging as a single malt in its own right. Its recent proprietary bottlings have not been chill-filtered or caramel tinted.

62.4% ABV

70cl