Cheap As Chips: Cadenhead's 1973 Glenfiddich and 1976 Dalmore Single Malt Scotch Whiskies

Those of you who have read this site for a while will remember back to my 30th birthday. In the years leading up to it, I had assembled a collection of bottles from the year of my birth, 1979. Doing so wasn't too difficult (this was in the days when one could purchase a bottle of 1979 Port Ellen from an indie bottler for under £100, and an OB for little over that) and the army of drams which were opened on my celebration day would grace any high end hotel nowadays.

I'm not one of those people who perpetually complain about the price of whisky rising. I understand that it is a finite product and if demand rises, so will prices. Doing so, is like complaining about the current house prices in certain parts of London. 20 years ago, I could have probably afforded to live in, say, Notting Hill. But not these days. Do I complain? No, I just go and live somewhere that is nice and affordable. Move on. Literally.

The price of a bottle of whisky is not determined just by the demand for mature stocks, however. As discussed in a post from last week about the possible shortage of casks coming over from America (legislation tbc), cash-flow plays a major part, too. If more money is needed now to lay stocks down for the future, then you'll more than likely see an uplift in the cost of your beloved dram.

All of this is going to have an effect on whiskies from the year of my birth, 1979 especially when people like me actually go and open the damn things. More so, any Scotch from the 1970’s seems to have seen a fairly hefty price hike in the last few years and my thoughts go out to you if you were born in the 60's, 50's or, god forbid, the 1940s and you’re looking to purchase birthday bottles! My advice would be: stockpile now if you want something to drink on your special birthday in the future.

However, there is hope! The indie bottler often rides to the rescue of those indeed of a rare, old dram and we feature a few of them on this site every so often. But one bottler who we hardly ever talk about (in fact, I don't think we ever do) is Cadenhead’s.

The last time we had a wee drop from these chaps was down in Campbeltown after a visit to Springbank distillery. They have a shop locally and sell some quite astonishing stuff at exceptionally low prices. I used to frequent their shop in London's Covent Garden (before rent price hikes forced them out to Marylebone- see what they did there? When faced with a price hike, they just moved on...) but have sadly not taken the time out to check out their new London store.

Silly me.

Why? Because of bottling such as this:

Cadenhead's 43 yo Glenlivet

I discovered this wee treat behind the bar at the Royal Oak  pub in Dufftown a few weeks ago. Not many people have whisky dating back this far. And not many sell it for well under £200 a bottle. Yeah, you heard: under £200 a bottle.

So, what do Candenhead’s have in store for future release? Well, one of them is their most expensive bottling ever, a 41 year old Glenfiddich from 1973 which comes, as Brand Ambassdor Mark Watt excitedly tells me "in a cardboard box!" and is a single cask which yielded just 96 bottles, retailing for £450.

Glenfiddich - 1973 – 41 Years Old – Wm. Cadenhead – 96 bottles only - 43.1% abv

Nose: A complex nose of sandalwood, petrichor, old diesel locomotives, school desks and furniture polish. This is like sticking your nose into a 1960's ercol cabinet. Some orange peel, fig, angostura bitters... this would be brilliant in an Old Fashioned.  

Palate: Rich and oily, it starts off with apricot jam, dark chocolate-dipped candied orange, some more sandalwood, cinnamon sticks and ginger. Rich and mouthfilling, this could have been dry and woody, but it is as refreshing as a dewy walk through an autumnal wood at dawn.

 

Finish: Apricots, old armagnac and a hint of menthol.

Overall: Rich with great woody notes, a full body and lots of fresh fruits. Fantastic.

Alongside this release is a single cask 37 year old Dalmore, retailing at an astonishing £170.

Dalmore - 1976 – 37 Years Old – Wm. Cadenhead - 150 – 46.4% abv

Nose: Brandy butter, rich clotted cream, some marzipan and toasted almonds give way to the oak, which takes a while to lift from the glass, but once it does it provides a good spicy topline, finally resting on fresh pine needles.

Palate: Vanilla again, rounded with cinnamon and green apple, which quickly develops into toffee apple and light, runny honey. The palate also has an element of watermelon and pear drop sweets. Some custard notes, too.

Finish: Rhubarb and custard sweets.

Overall: A great dram at a stella price, this is all about the vanilla, cinnamon spice and rhubarb & custard.

So, if you look hard enough, you'll find the odd bottle out there which is extremely good value for a well aged product. Just keep your eyes peeled.

Still Life.... Part Deux

Ahhhhhhh...

Does the sun always shine in Scotland? It seems to every time we visit. Each Islay Festival we've been to, we've been bathed in glorious sunshine and the same was true of our previous visit to Speyside in April. And today is no exception.

The sun is beating down on Glenlivet, the beautiful Glen which used to give it's name to so many different whiskies as a marque of quality (Longmorn-Glenlivet, Macallan-Glenlivet, etc). However, today we are the kind guest of THE Glenlivet for the opening of their brand-new Still Room, housing 6 new stills, complete with an official Royal visit.

Arriving with a thirst on, the first sight we were greeted by was a full operational "Smugglers Still". This little beauty (perfect for your shed at the end of the garden!) was churning out some wonderful new make. In fact, I'd go as far as to say it was the best new make I've ever had: fruity but with some weight, it was pure vanillas an exotic fruits. Lovely stuff. Now, can I fit this in my hand luggage for the journey home?!?

This gem of a still had been set up outside a warehouse and your eagle-eyed reporter noticed the door ajar. As it swung open I noticed a crowd gathered inside all huddled around an open cask.

Jackpot!

The guys at The Glenlivet had only gone and opened a cask of whisky... from 1979! Regular readers will remember that '79 is this bloggers birth year. Last year, to celebrate my 30th I gathered together a load of classic bottles with whisky from 1979 in. And so to discover an open cask from that year was a total delight!

The Glenlivet - 1979 Warehouse Cask Sample - First Fill Sherry Butt - 54.9% ABV

Nose: Muesli, orages, very strong and heavy notes of dry sherry.

Palate: Huge hits of malt, this really doesn't taste 30 / 31 Years old, the is big sherry mixed with dusty notes of old books / church pews.

Finish: Very dry. With water it really opens up with the older notes of dusty pews coming through to a greater degree.

Overall: This is a good expression of a well aged, sherried Glenlivet which ultimately was a little too dry and oaky.

After wandering around this exceptionally beautiful distillery, we sat down for some much needed lunch. As an aperitif, we were given a glass of Glenlivet's celebration bottling to mark the opening of their new still room, the Founders Reserve. This is limited to just 1824 bottles, cunninly also the year Glenlivet was founded.

The Glenlivet - Founders Reserve - 21 Years Old - 1824 bottles only - 55.6% VOL

Nose: A big hit of fresh coffee and dark chocolate powder is carried by deep sherry notes, with some hazelnut and red fruit compote.

Palate: Bitter oranges, cloves and dry spices and cinnamon. With water fresh steamed green veg appears. This dram works better without water, note.

Finish: Dry with hot spices, Tomato sauce flavour crisps and some salt. Starts quite strong but finishes lovely and softly.

Overall: A cracking dram but it did tend to fall apart with the addition of water. There are some lovely rich notes here and the mix of coffee and chocolate is wonderful.

As the last drop of whisky fell from the glass into our mouths, the room began to shudder and shake... a helicopter was landing on the green outside, carrying a very special visitor: HRH The Prince of Wales (also known as The Duke Of Rothesay).

As we filed outside to the sundrenched courtyard, Prince Charles unveiled a statue to mark this special occasion. Then, totally unexpectedly he went for a walk, right in the direction of caskstrength.net! A very brief conversation later and he was off down the line, chatting happily to some of the folk who had turned out for the day. In summary: Bloody nice chap!

That was our time at Speyside drawing to an end. A massive thank you to The Glenlivet for the invite. It was a truely wonderful experience.

Finish Reading All About... Joel Has Turned 30! **PART TWO**

In my first post I wrote about an 18 month journey to put together some whiskies from the year of my birth, 1979 in order to celebrate my 30th Birthday. In that post, I wrote about the first threewhiskies of the evening: A Port Ellen Single Cask Signatory bottling, the Port Ellen 3rd Release and a miniature of Imperial. So far, so yummy!

As my search for whisky from 1979 grew, I found my bank balance shrinking; the recession, rising energy bills, fuel duty increasing... the list seemed endless! In line with the shrinking bank balance, the bottles must shrink too, I thought. Feeling not unlike Alice In Wonderland, I was about to enter the interesting world of the miniature... My first purchase was the Imperial- a distillery which I had never experience before and I wasn't disappointed. Next up was another newby on me: Inverleven.

Inverleven - 1979 - 40% vol - 5cl - Gordon & Macphail

Nose: A lovely and sweet nose, I would have pinpointed this as a lowland from that alone. Not as rich in flowers and perfume as a Rosebank, but certainly some white flowers and a hint of toffee.

Palate: A touch of burnt sugar, some bacon.

Finish: Medium with mild spice.

Overall: A pleasant enough dram, but not one to knock the socks off.

The final wee bottle for the evening was a Glen Mhor, yet another distillery that won't ever produce again. This "little drinking" is a good way forward. Cheaper than big bottles and you get to try some whisky you may never have again!

Glen Mhor - 1979 - Distilled 25/5/1979 Bottled July 1995 - Cask No. 2377 + 2378 - 66.7% - 5cl

Nose: Over Mature Compost! Mint Tea, Apple Juice and old sackcloth

Palate: Vanilla Sherbet, much more of the fresh green apples

Finish: Lots of spices, with water cinnamon buns.

Overall: This needs a big dollop of water to open the senses up and get all the flavours out. Only a 16 year old but the is a real maturity about this dram. Robust and flavourful; just make sure you add water!

With the miniatures all gone, it was time to refocus on the big bottles of 1979 stock. By this time my budget was long gone. A few miniatures, a 1979 Port Ellen Single Cask and the Port Ellen 3rd Release later, the tank was indeed empty. It is at this stage that one has to rely on the extreme generosity of friends! There is an old saying:

"A man can be judged by the company he keeps".

On this showing, I am indeed one of the richest men alive. And the next part of this post is a tribute to those people. Thank you!

The first bottle to be unwrapped was a 1979 Caol Ila from Berry Bros, a gift from fellow caskstrengther, Neil (in the interests of clarity, we tried this at BB&R a couple of months ago and I expressed a delight in the bottling, so no prizes to Neil for picking up my very unsubtle hints!!- Cheers mate!):

Caol Ila - 1979 / 2009 - Cask No. 4412 - 53.1% vol - 70cl

Nose: This is a beast! Coal smoke, peat and general targeted aggression drag up pear drops, honeysuckle and mint. Whoooah! This is a nose!

Palate: Yes, that's a Caol Ila- everything you'd expect from the coal driven palate, but there is also some delicate creams in there. Leave it in for as long as you dare and the smoke rises. And rise. And rise. You can hold it for an eternity, but it's like holding a wasp in your mouth... it just gets more and more aggressive as it looks for a way out. This is not only very tasty, but very lively. A fun dram.

Finish: Not as long as you would expect from something as richly flavoured as this, nor from something with this level of strength. There seems just a whiff of relief from the liquid that you've released it. Again, the coal is dominant flavour, but when dies down there is a load of different florals with clear, runny-honey coming in late.

Overall: This is a sensational dram. I had a dinner party last week with one of the attendees from my birthday drinks there. He claimed he'd only come over to try this whisky again. There seems to be a real race developing for "dram of the night" with two front runners being this Caol Ila and the Port Ellen 3rd Release...

So far, so good. I'm very pleased with the additional drammage from 1979. It was truly turning out to be a great year for whisky. But where next? Kudos must go to Darren from the SMWS who pulled out a wonderfully interesting bottle from 1979, dragged kicking and screaming from his own archives. Another demolished distillery... a Glen Albyn.

SMWS 69.11 - July 1979 / July 2006 - 27 Years Old - 58.1% Vol - 70cl

Nose: Very nutty with a hint of sherry. I'm guessing from the nose and the colour that this a 2nd or 3rd refill sherry cask. I would never have pinpointed this whisky from the nose alone (why should I have done?!) but there is real body to it, backed with a freshness or lightness of grass.

Palate: Quite bitter at first, then some tobacco notes, pepper and a hint of salt.

Finish: Long and strong. With water this dram come alive much more- cooking apple notes leap out along with fresh brown bread.

Overall: Unusual and a real welcome break from the peatiness of the evening. This is a strong dram in every way; full of flavours of forest floors, cooking apples and brown bread. A MALT drinkers malt.

It was at this stage that the bottlings hit a wall. That was it for drams from 1979. But the little fact that I was born in '79 didn't put people off. It was time to dig in to some new bottlings... all THIRTY YEAR OLDS. Whoop!

The first came courtesy of my good friend Rich. We've grown up together and he was also born in 1979 but Rich was very kind in bringing along a bottle from yet another new distillery on me... Tamdhu.

Tamdhu - 30 Years Old - The Macphail's Collection - 43% vol - 70cl

Nose: One of those wonderful noses you get with a well aged sherry cask of dark chocolate with cherries in. Beautifully rounded.

Palate: Not as intense on the palate as the nose would suggest. Hold to the promise of dark chocolate but this time with a greater nutty feel of chopped hazelnuts.

Finish: Oooh, spices which I wasn't expecting. A lot hotter than I thought it would be and really quite long.

Overall: A cracker. Never had Tamdhu before but this makes me want to explore it further.

The next 30 year old up was a very special one for me. It had been re-label by the wonderful chaps at Master Of Malt as "Joel Harrison's 30th Birthday Malt - 30 Years Old". How very, very kind of them. The empty bottle I shall keep forever!

Master Of Malt - Secret Bottling Series - Joel Harrison's 30th Birthday Malt - 30 Years Old - Speyside - 40% Vol - 70cl

(note: this is a very heavily sherried Speyside from an un-named distillery...)

Nose: Burnt sugar, creme brulee, walnuts, old polished wood.

Palate: Phawr! That's sherried and aged! Pure apricots in syrup with toffee apple.

Finsh: Medium, lightly spiced and medium dry. Like well brewed tea without milk. Just leaves you wanting more.

Overall: That, ladies and gentlemen, is how to do heavily sherried 30 year old whisky. Everything you want on the nose from a good sherry cask, a plate that isn't too heavy but is nice and fruity and just enough dryness in the finish to leave you wanting more.

"Where do you go from here?" I hear you cry! Well, there are just two more drams from the night, so let's move on to Ma & Pa Harrison's contribution to my celebrations (Thanks Mum and Dad. xx) and guess what?!? It's only more bloody Port Ellen!!

Port Ellen 8th Release - 1978 / 2008 - 29 Years Old - 6618 bottles - 55.3% Vol - 70cl

Nose: The most delicate of all the islay whisky on the night. Hints of lemon, sea salt and smoke.

Palate: The smoke is subtle on this one and the first thing to pop up is those lemons and the salt, the smoke follows in later. Touch of liquorice too.

Finish: After the smoke dies down, pear drops and lime come up and then the fire of the chillies takes over. Long.

Overall: This is a good dram, but not the best islay of the night. In fact, probably in 4th place after the 3rd release, the single cask and the Caol Ila. But let's be honest... to finish behind those three is still bloody good going!

Finally, we come back to the mainland from Islay for one last dram as we travel down to Campbletown courtesy of a man whose picture should be found next to the word generous in the dictionary, Sukhinder Singh.

Longrow - MacMhuirich, Currie & Wilkinson - 1993 - 13 Year Old - Cask No. 635 - 46% Vol - 70cl

Nose: Wowzer! The most delicate hint of peat, banana and vanilla.

Palate: The smoke and banana intermingle with parma violets and touch of liquorice.

Finish: All of the above carried over a medium length and a hint of sherbet.

Overall: This is a fantastic dram. So delicate yet with some real push from the smoke behind it.

It's been a wonderful evening of drams. Thank you to all who came along. I am a very blessed person.

"Read All About It! Read All About! Joel Turns Thirty, Shocker!" PART ONE

You may have wondered where we've been for a week.

Well, this weekend which has just passed was my 30th Birthday weekend, so the past week has been spent in preparation for a celebration that is in keeping with turning "the big three - O".

As is usual around Valentines Day, the Post Office contacted me in advance to make sure I could pick up my post from their South London Depot some time over the weekend. Apparently it is a Health & Safety nightmare, letting a postal worker carry so many letters and cards to one address over such a short period of time. And in the current climate, hiring in part-time help can't be done...

Batting off invitations to various soirees with models and racing drivers (or should that be model car racing drivers...) I decided that the evening before my big day was the best time to celebrate- and celebrate in style! It was about 18 months, maybe even two whole years ago when the idea struck me:

"Wouldn't it be brilliant to have an evening drinking whisky from 1979!"

And thus, the planning began. Every time I got a chance to explore a shop or a website that may have a bottle from God's Own Year of Blessing, I did: eBay, Distillery Shops, Vintage House, The Whisky Exchange... even Waitrose!

The first find was discovered deep in Sukhinder Singh's collection at The Whisky Exchange HQ in London and it really set the tone for the collection: Port Ellen 1979 - Signatory - 23 Years Old - 423 bottles - Butt No. 6775 - 43% But the most appealing thing about this bottle was the distillation date: 16th November. Just 12 days before the day I was born! Bottle one on my tasting list had been bought and, over the next 18 - 24 months it was to be joined by a few other famous faces, whisky superstars and down right obscure bottles...

Port Ellen 1979 - Signatory - 23 Years Old - 423 bottles - Butt No. 6775 - 43% Vol (Distilled 16th Nov 1979 - Bottles 3rd October 2003) - 75cl

Nose: There is a warmth of sea air and smoke about this one. It doesn't hit you over the head in a massive way, but it brings in the smoke and sea salt with notes of green tea and fresh mint. Slight creaminess to the nose also. Lovely and delicate.

Palate: This is one to let sit and wash about on the tongue for a while. Again, the green tea comes though but the peat smoke really burns now and there is a sweetness of brown sugar and hints of red apple.

Finish: The most delicate of embers from open fires simmer away on the back palate. Then you're hit with hazelnuts and a hint of lime juice. It's just yummy.

Overall: A corker. I mean, where can you go from here...?!?!

As the month flew past, I occasionally found myself with a few spare pennies in the pocket. These were quickly deposited into an old, empty bottle (of Serendipity, I think!) and as it filled up, I was able to splash out here and there on more interesting bottles for the evening ahead. One afternoon as I was wondering down Marylebone High Street, I happened to find myself drawn towards Waitrose. As I stood gawping at their whisky selection, a bottle caught my eye... was it? Yes, it was! Another Port Ellen from 1979. This time it was the third release. And the price... well, I won't publish the price. But needless to say you'd be hard pressed to buy a full bottle of Serendipity for this money. It was indeed a sign. Especially as a few months later we were to be standing in the Port Ellen Distillery drinking the First and Fourth Releases. This was turning into quite a journey already:

Port Ellen 3rd Release - 1979 / 2003 - 24 Years - 9000 bottles - 57.3% Vol - 70cl

Nose: The smoke isn't the first thing you notice with this; it's lemon and passion fruit, then smoke- bash! They've really managed to get some amazing fruits in the nose- like eating a starburst then smoking a cigar!

Palate: Clean and crisp, this has all the elements of Islay in it, in a glass! Alongside the heat and the smoke, buttered popcorn rises up and a touch of lemon curd on white toast. Most unusual but delicious.

Finish: Hot with a good dry white wine element that leaves your mouth coated but your palate wanting more. Like Lemon Sherbet sweets.

Overall: There was a general discussion about the best of the official bottlings of Port Ellen on the evening. It appears that the first and the third are peoples general favourites, and I find it hard to disagree with them after this stunner.

So, that's two bottles in the bank for my birthday celebrations. But this was starting to cost (even before 2009 rolled in, and 1979 whisky prices went up again due to their demand for "gifting" 30th birthdays). This meant a change in tack. How was I going to bulk out this collection with out compromising the quality bar which has been set, lets be honest, pretty darn high! One answer: miniatures! A few clicks on eBay later and I was bidding on my first: Imperial 1979...

Imperial - 1979 - G&M - 40% - 5cl

Nose: Waah! Now we're going somewhere different. This bad boy is throwing some crazy florals up the nose: grapefruit, kiwi, peaches. Lovely stuff.

Palate: Not a huge amount going on at first but give it some time, roll it around and you get some lovely hits of those peaches from the nose, but tinned. Also some mango and some limes.

Finish: A hint of smoke from this one, lingers just long enough. Slips down very easily.

Overall: My first ever Imperial and it was a lovely surprise. Very delicate but with a hint of smoke in the back palate, some lovely fruit and real delicate nature to it. Another cracker.

Three drams in, where is this journey going to take us next? Tune in later this week "Read All About It!" (a little peek at the picture at the top might give away what's to come)...

Bunna: Have Some

Bunnahabhain. Not a distillery that we have reviewed much. In fact, only once since we have been going has it popped into our view- and that was for their excellent, but over priced Feis Ile 2008 bottling. It’s an interesting distillery simply because it really does not conform to the classic Islay style of heavily peating the spirit. Here we tried 2 sister bottlings from the same independent bottler, Single Malts of Scotland. One just a year older than the other, but both from the classic vintage, 1979 (guess when this reviewer was born...!).


Bunnahabhain – Single Malts Of Scotland – 27 Years Old – Distilled: 31.10.79 / Bottled: 02.03.07 – cask no. 11488 – 234 bottles – 46% Vol – 70cl

N- Wine overtones- like a light and crisp Chardonnay. Estery notes, with fresh pear and fruity/creamy notes like rhubarb and custard boiled sweets. The fruit subsides and then liquorice and under-ripe, green apple comes through with a faint hint of hazel nut.

P: The first hit is a blast of cinnamon and clove, then a real creaminess. It’s really reminiscent of home made apple pie and custard. Sweet, sharp, spicy but smothered in a wonderful vanilla'y creaminess.

F; More green apples and freshness. A hint of baked cooking apples sprinkled with brown sugar and cinnamon at the end. More length than you'd have expected here.

O: In keeping with our 'seasonal drams' debate, this could be compared to the very first shoots of spring- it's very light weight as bunna's usually are, but less floral and without the sherry influence, which is a refreshing change for me.


Bunnahabhain – Single Malts Of Scotland – 28 Years Old – Distilled: 31.10.79 / Bottled: 22.04.08 – cask no. 18831 – 234 bottles – 46% Vol – 70cl

N: Again more of that Chardonnay with further grassy and estery notes. A little touch of rosehip and then drying woody spices, cedar perhaps?

P: Slightly sweeter than last years mixed with more of that fresh green fruit, cloves and oak, which is definitely more noticeable than before.

F: Again, a great length for a light dram. Liquorice, hints of spice and bean sprouts.

O: We left this out to air a little and it certainly opened up, with more comparisons to its older sister.

It seemed that the 28 YO needed a little more time in the glass to settle, and once it did it really came to life. We both chose the 27 YO as our pick of the two. Not a great deal in it, especially once the 28 YO had sat in the glass and opened up. Both cracking little gems.