Glencadam 28 Year Old 1991 Gordon & Macphail Connoisseurs Choice Single Sherry Puncheon #6031901 Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky (2020) 70cl

Glencadam 28 Year Old 1991 Gordon & Macphail Connoisseurs Choice Single Sherry Puncheon #6031901 Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky (2020) 70cl

1 of 290  bottles produced from a single sherry puncheon

Arguably the most famous independent bottler of Scotch whisky there is. Gordon & MacPhail was founded in Elgin in 1895 by James Gordon and John Alexander MacPhail. It is now owned by the Urquhart Family who have bow bottled over 350 different expressions from around 69 different distilleries. Gordon & MacPhail is the Trading name of Speymalt Whiskies while also owning the Benromach distillery, which they purchased in 1993. Some of the brands include Connoisseurs Choice, Cask Strength, Rare Old and Speymalt.

TASTING NOTES

Nose: Sweet sherry aromas complement fresh ginger and treacle toffee. Raspberry and milk chocolate notes develop alongside a subtle hint of citrus zest.

Palate: Smooth flavours of toasted almonds and creamy baked apples give way to soft black pepper. Blackcurrant undertones lead to mature oak.

Finish: Medium-bodied finish of lingering spice and cocoa powder.

About Glencadam

Glencadam’s new make character of flowers and pear drops is a direct result of a distillation regime that maximises reflux – the lyne arms on the stills are angled upwards. Its mature character, especially when matured in refill American oak, has a soft buttery quality that adds a silkiness to the palate.

Glencadam, which is situated in the Burgh of Brechin, was built in the era of optimism that followed the passing of the 1823 Excise Act. After passing through a number of owners, it became part of the estate of Glasgow blender Gilmour Thompson & Co which bought the distillery in 1891.

The blending house ceased trading in 1954 when Glencadam was sold to Canadian distiller Hiram Walker, which was then starting its first acquisitive sweep through Scotland. Through a process of amalgamation it became part of Allied Distillers and was seen as being the ‘home’ of the Dundee blend Stewart’s Cream of the Barley.

Allied mothballed the plant in 2000 but it was purchased three years later by London-based Angus Dundee [see Tomintoul]. Angus Dundee’s blending lab is now located at the distillery.

A quiet player for most of its existence, Glencadam is slowly emerging as a single malt in its own right. Its recent proprietary bottlings have not been chill-filtered or caramel tinted.