Whisky Online Blog

Of all the distilleries I’ll talk about this week, Caperdonich is the most recently deceased. It started life in 1898 as a sister distillery to Glen Grant but was closed again only four years later in 1902, a victim of the Pattison Crisis. It would not produce whisky again until the boom era of the 1960′s when it was reopened in 1965 and expanded in 1967 with a second pair of stills. During this expansion it was thoroughly modernised, so much so that it required only two people to run the entire distillery, a feat from which the modern day Diageo probably drew great inspiration. It produced until 2002 when it was mothballed by new owners Pernod Ricard, sadly it was the only distillery in the Pernod Ricard stable that did not reopen after a brief period of mothballing in the early 2000′s, Caperdonich was demolished in 2010.

Caperdonich prior to demolition in 2010.

Throughout its operational lifetime Caperdonich did not receive much in the way of love nor admiration for its distillate. It was rarely available as a single malt for many years, even from the independents, so knowledge of just how good it could be was limited to circles of extreme malt fanaticism. It is also worth remembering that it was a malt designed as a perfect replica of Glen Grant, while it has notable differences it shares a crucial trait with its old sister distillery, they both need time to reveal their full potential. Like Glen Grant, Caperdonich ages beautifully and often shows stunning fruit qualities between 30-40 years of age. This aspect of the spirit is only really being discovered now after it is too late, largely thanks to many fairly priced and stunning aged bottlings by the likes of Duncan Taylor and Douglas Laing in recent years. How long these stocks will last and whether the latter years of production will be as good at the same ages is something that only time will tell. Still, it’s well worth trying some of these great old Caperdonichs now before the prices go too crazy.

The sample I have today is a slightly younger Caperdonich from the 1980s, so we’ll see how it holds up to the great expressions from the late sixties and early seventies.

Caperdonich. 28yo. Douglas Laing ‘Old Malt Cask’. OMC1923. 50%. 70cl.

Colour: Lipton Iced Tea

Nose: It certainly bears very striking resemblances to the older Caperdonichs at first nosing with lots of fresh garden fruits and some lively notes of wax polish, old furniture, resin, pine needles and orange tea (?). It feels younger than its 28 years, it is obviously very mature malt but there is a very peasant bite about the nose that keeps everything lively and fresh, there is no obvious woodiness so far or astringency. Goes on with notes of honeysuckle, a little eucalyptus, fresh butter and newly cut sawdust. With water: becomes very creamy and sooty with notes of leather, horse sweat and old fireplaces. Also becomes much more citrusy with notes of lemon curd, sherbet lemons and freshly chopped tarragon.

Palate: Quite a vigorous attack all on strong notes of boot polish and some unexpected notes of mushrooms, vegetal tones and some slightly ‘dirty’ aspects as well, something like pencil erasers and graphite. Globally very good though with nice herbal flavours and notes of orange bitters, cloves, cinnamon, hot toddy, camphor, mint tea and some waxy citrus rind. With water: Throws up some unexpected flinty qualities of granite and minerals, also a little more luxurious and oily, becomes quite mouthcoating, still retains that slightly earthy, dirty quality though.

Finish: Not too long but full of fresh cream, oranges, butter, honey and a nice woody/waxy quality.

Comments: I really like this one, some will probably be put off by those unclean aspects on the palate but I think they’re really enjoyable and playful. A good example of a mid aged Caperdonich, a nice mix of well balanced cask influence and natural distillery fingerprints. I liked how it did some very unexpected things with water but still retained its balance. Quite full bodied really, had some very ‘Highland’ qualities about it.

Score: 87/100

In conclusion: drink Caperdonich, but do so with an appropriate sense of melancholy.

A couple of fruity little numbers to taste on this very gentle of Sunday afternoon’s. Glasgow is sunny and quiet today as everyone has no doubt deserted the hubbub and bustle of the west end to seek solace in the tranquility of Kelvingrove Park and the Botanic Gardens only to discover that everyone else in the city had the same idea. So while they enjoy an afternoon of frisbee dodging and hyperactive, sun-maddened children, I will have my own quiet tasting from my vantage point looking down onto Byres Road and Kersland Street, eerily quiet and pockmarked only by occasional summer wanderers.

Caperdonich 1973-2008. 34yo. Douglas Laing. 41.5%. 70cl. 1 of 267 bottles from a re-fill hogshead.

A merry little fruit bomb.

Colour: Same as that cheap runny honey you can buy in British supermarkets.

Nose: Starts off on boiled sweets and honey ironically enough, develops some very clear and vibrant fruity notes quite quickly. White flowers, stone fruit and maybe some greener fruit character but not tropical. The initial sweetness gives way to a beautiful dryness, becomes even a little austere with some lovely flinty characters. Some cereals now, a little porridge and mashed potato and maybe something a bit metallic and slightly oily. The nose is quite compelling.

Palate: Very soft and milky, plenty fruit but its very delicate, its more like a little dancing wreath of flavour than a whisky. Wonderful soft wood smoke and spice towards the swallow. Not quite as complicated as the nose but that’s to be expected with these oldies. Very little evidence of wood interference in the spirit, obviously a good cask. It wears its alcohol very lightly this one, the only bite is the lovely drying spiciness around the sides of the mouth.

Finish: Surprisingly good length for its strength, very dry and austere in the finish but still glimmers of the fruitiness from the nose. A very charming dram. Finish is quite long actually.

Comments: I was drawn to this whisky partly because I know Caperdonich from these years can be so beautiful but also because I am always intrigued by whiskies that have naturally very low strengths. I think when a whiskie’s strength goes so low in the cask the resulting oxidative effect brings out a lot of fruit character, this seems to be the case here. It ‘s not perfect, its a little weak on the palate and it doesn’t live up to the nose but I’m splitting hairs. It has a beautiful fragility to it that makes it a wonderful one to sip away and marvel at. Its probably a little over the hill, I would love to have tasted it at 28 or 30yo but in the end its a lovely summer dram. Hats off to Douglas Laing. Just be careful, its perilously easy to drink.

Score: 88/100

Springbank 21yo. OB ceramic decanter. 43%. 70cl. Rotation 1992/93?

Springbank 21? Oh go on then.

Colour:  Tawny amber.

Nose: Its the fruit that comes through first. Its quite a soft Springbank, its rare to find an OB bottled below 46%. Guavas, mangoes, and a dollop of toffee, maybe some Millionaire’s Shortbread also, so far a curious combination of old style and modern style Springbank. No obvious Old Bottle Effect so far, I wonder how these ceramic bottles affect their contents over time, many can be dodgy. After a while there is quite some sandalwood and toasted spices, maybe the faintest hint of bitterness. A little chocolaty perhaps?

Palate: Big spiciness, incredibly spicy in fact. The bitterness is more obvious here but there is still a lot of lovely fruit character in keeping with the nose, digestive biscuits, malted barley, some gentle vanilla. A good viscous mouthfeel holds everything together quite well, nice composition. Quite an easy quaffer except for that bitter limp in the middle of the palate. The sherry is very subtle and clean on this one and there is that Springbank brininess towards the back that I always associate as being more prominent in current bottlings but which I suppose is always a component of the distillery character, anyway its definitely there, a lovely elegant saltiness.

Finish: Very drying, quite some tannins, medium length. Still a little bitter dammit.

Comments: This is a lovely whisky, its Springbank, its fruity, tasty, quaffable and entertaining. However there is no denying it is a bit bitter, I would love to try this from a different bottle. These ceramics have become real wild cards these days, they lose their contents much more easily and they are sealed with these massive corks, more akin to bungs really. So the chances of the bottle being out of condition are greatly increased, I wouldn’t say this one was corked or over oxidized but I’d be intrigued to sample other bottles from the same batch. I know of one other recently opened bottle from this batch that was completely corked, a great shame. I imagine they must all by now be different in subtle ways from when they were bottled, it magnifies the fun and frustration in equal measure.

87/100 for this bottle though the whisky feels like it would be worth several points more without the bitterness, try it if you get the chance and take this score with a big dollop of salt.