Glencadam 8 Years Old 2012 Cask #3401 (Silent Ambassador)

An 8 year old Glencadam from Silent Ambassador, distilled in 2012, from cask 3401, at 52.3%, one of 270 bottles. Glencadam is a Highland single malt whose upward angled lyne arms give a light, fruity spirit. In the 1890s the Glasgow blender Gilmour Thomson used its malt in a Royal blend said to be favoured by Edward VII.

The spirit was distilled in onion shaped copper pot stills, for a fine, fruity spirit with a light body. It rested in ex-Bourbon oak, oak lactones lending a creamy vanilla. In these extractive early years the oak gives vanillin as vanilla and lactones as coconut over pear, apple and a creamy note. Maturation runs slow and even in the cool, racked Highland warehouses. First fill wood drives the maturation, the cask clear in the light spirit. Years in oak deepen the spirit to old gold, the body growing rounder and creamier with time.

At a natural 52.3% it is full and creamy. A delicate, tropical fruit with a soft body, lifted by a soft oak. A light orchard fruit and a soft spice give it shape. The close is light and clean, fruit over a gentle oak. This is a light, fruity Highland single malt.