Glencadam 9 Years Old 2011 (SMWS 82.29)

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society bottled this Glencadam, a 9 year old, distilled in 2011, from cask 82.29, at 62.1%, one of 252 bottles. Glencadam is a Highland single malt, long a blending malt and now bottled as a single malt in its own right. In the 1890s the Glasgow blender Gilmour Thomson used its malt in a Royal blend said to be favoured by Edward VII. Its single malts are bottled at 46 percent, without chill filtration or added colour.

Distilled from unpeated malt, building a soft malt of orchard fruit and a creamy sweetness. A bourbon barrel held it, the wood adding a soft honey over the orchard fruit. In these extractive early years the oak gives vanillin as vanilla and lactones as coconut over pear, apple and a creamy note. Years in oak deepen the spirit to old gold, the body growing rounder and creamier with time. Because the upward lyne arms keep the spirit light, the cask shows clearly through the years.

Bottled at a cask strength 62.1%, it is concentrated. Pear, apple and a soft cream, lifted by a soft oak. Melon, pear and a creamy honey fill the middle. A long, fruity finish carries a creamy honey. This is a Highland single malt of real finesse.