Auchentoshan 12 Year
less floral
Cardhu 12 Year
Single Malt
Cardhu // Speyside, Scotland
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Generously_Paul
Reviewed September 12, 2017 (edited February 5, 2018)Stop number 31 on the SDT is Cardhu. This Speyside distillery provides one of the key malts in the Johnnie Walker blends (although it does not appear the Green Label). This 12 year old is bottled at 40% ABV and has enough colorant in it to make it look like JW Black Label. It appears to also be chill filtered. At one time (and it may still be), this was the best selling single malt scotch in Spain. Let's see what all the Spaniards are making such a fuss about. On the nose it is heavy with honey and cereal malt. It immediately screams JW. Pears, plums, soft oak and wood resin. There is melon and maybe some strawberries, peaches and dull oranges. Very grassy as well but in a very good way. Light nuts, maybe hazelnut and some old cardboard. Toffee, vanilla and faint cocoa powder. Some cinnamon and possibly another type of wood spice, ginger or maybe licorice with a sort of mocha note trailing off. I thought for a moment that there was a beautiful smoky BBQ aroma, but alas it was one of my neighbors grilling up dinner. Heather honey all over the palate. Floral with weak black tea and light milk chocolate. Malty sweet with a little pepper that builds up just enough to make you take notice. Banana, oak, toffee and vanilla. Very interesting and engaging. A medium to light body. A little creamy, but turns very dry. The finish, unfortunately, is rather short. Sweet with oak and pepper and a puff of smoke that fades as quickly as it appears. I have to say that I am quite impressed. I went into this one seeing the heavy colorant and legal minimum strength and expected the worst. What I got was a solid single malt with a strength that transcends its ABV. Very well balanced. It shows like a true 12 year old, some complexity with a little youthful kick. I would love to have a go at this one at cask strength. If you are a fan of Johnnie Walker you will probably enjoy this. Again, very impressed at this colored, chill filtered, 40% Speysider. This may turn into one of those must have on hand for guests type of scotches. Others may think I'm crazy for giving it a 4, but I'm looking at all the things it has going against it and still coming out on top. Plus, at $50 it's a damn good value for money. Cheers, MFers!
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