Glencadam 15 Year Old Single Malt, like its 10-year-old “little brother”, has won countless awards, and received a whopping 90.5 out of 100 points in the 2014 edition of whiskey guru Jim Murray’s The Whiskey Bible. But the biggest honor is probably that it was voted Whiskey of the Year 2017 by the popular whiskey vlogger, Ralfy. Glencadam 15 Year Old is bottled at 46% alcohol, without chill filtration or addition of caramel colour.
Colour: Light golden.
Aroma: A light touch of salt woven into vanilla fudge, malt and freshly cut grass. Light fruity notes of pineapple, grapefruit and plum are felt in the background.
Tasting notes: A symphony of fruit with ripe pineapple and plums sprinkled with dark demerara sugar. Cocoa. Pleasant sweetness and a long, rich aftertaste.
Serving suggestion: Neat, possibly with a drop of water added.
Glencadam, with its distinctive red chimney, is located in Brechin, as one of the few surviving distilleries in the East Highlands. The distillery was built in 1825 – not long after a new Excise Act in 1823 made distillation legal on a larger scale in Scotland. Since 2003 the distillery has been owned by Angus Dundee, and since 2005 the distillery has been running 24/7. However, not much has changed in the production method at Glencadam. You still have a mash tun made of cast iron and two pot stills, which are designed in a way that gives a quite light and elegant spirit. The two original dunnage warehouses from 1825 are still in use.
Only a limited portion of the whiskey is still bottled as single malt, as the vast majority of production is used in blends. Angus Dundee owns, among other things, the brands Scottish Royal, Glen Parker and The Dundee, and one must assume that a large proportion of these is Glencadam. Fortunately, there is also a renewed focus on single malt – especially since Angus Dundee took over. In 2016, the entire core range was reformed. Glencadam neither chill filters nor colors the whiskey with caramel.
