Cardhu Gold Reserve (Game of Thrones-House Targaryen)

heel simpele, lichte, vluchtige whisky. geur is minder, smaak oké, wat zoeter. had de eerste in de serie moeten zijn

The nose of the drink features hints of apple and spice. It is sweet with an almost toffee scent. The scotch tastes sweet with toffee and apple notes. It is not peaty, but rather a little briny in the finish. Hints of vanilla and charred wood can be faintly detected behind the sweetness. Very good.

I’m a little late to the party with this review as GoT has now ended, but better late than never. I’ll skip all of the House Targaryen jokes and historical facts and just get down to it. This is Cardhu Gold Reserve. It’s not available in the US in its standard packaging, but this is the same stuff the Europeans get. Diageo didn’t bother coming up with something new for this one. Bottled at 40% ABV and is chill filtered. As far as the color goes, every whisky in the GoT lineup is exactly the same color. Impossible you say? Thanks to copious amount of added colorant it IS possible! It’s a solid amber color. The nose is full of honey, barley sugar, malty/yeasty. Quite fruity - but not fresh fruits, more like canned fruits. Cantaloupe, pineapple, baked apples, pears, orange pith, peaches, green grapes and raisins...all swimming in a light syrup. Toffee, vanilla, chocolate sauce. Floral, lavender and honeysuckle, also somewhat earthy and herbal. A light oak with some hickory and a very faint wood smoke. Almonds on the back end. Nice. The palate is very malty like the nose. Barley, honey and oak. Nutty - almonds and hazelnut. Black tea, chocolate, tobacco and maybe some leather. Fairly light apples and cantaloupe. Nothing like the fruitiness if the nose. Toffee and butterscotch. Kind of boring. A medium bodied mouthfeel that is oily, mouthwatering and then dry. The finish is medium length with honey, malt, apples and almonds. Not bad for the price (I paid $40). Inoffensive, very drinkable. Lots of depth on the nose, but nothing stands out as exciting. Looking back at my notes for the 12 year old, this is more or less the same dram, but most likely younger. If this was sold here I would buy it again, but only because it’s a cheap and decent Speysider that I wouldn’t feel bad offering to friends that don’t really like whisky. I gave the 12 YO a 4, but that was almost 2 years ago. With my current palate and standards, this comes in a bit lower. 3.5 Cheers