​I was looking for something a little different and Cardhu is what I came up with. This Speysider turns out to be a major component in Johnnie Walker, to the extent that JW bought the distillery outright some time ago. It's now one of Diageo's brands. It was also at the center of a firestorm of controversy back in the 80's when Diageo attempted to address a supply crisis by turning it into a vatted malt and calling it "Pure Malt". The shitstorm that ensued nearly wiped out the distillery. Fortunately Diageo saw the light and restored the brand to a single malt that is available to us today. Cardhu 12 yr. is bottled at a standard 40% ABV. It's a light to medium gold in the glass, which makes me think it is not colored. No statement as to whether or not it's filtered, so I assume it is. It looks thin in the glass and produces thin legs. The nose is very light, which follows the appearance. Light floral and cereal tones, along with light citrus, apples and pears. That's about it. So far, not too impressive. The palate was a little surprising. I found it fairly dry for a Speysider, with a strong peppery/cinnamon spice flavor. Actually kind of reminded me of a rye whiskey at first, which is really strange, but that's what I got. Water brought out some malty flavors. It had a fairly thin mouthfeel. Pretty one dimensional; or maybe I just can't get those light "barely there" notes. Whichever, it was good, but not great. The finish was probably the best part of this dram. Warm, lingering, and reminiscent of dark fruit cake, the finish saves this whisky from being purely mediocre. The odd combination of fruity nose with spicy palate throws it off balance. It would be a good summer whisky; alas, summer is over and I'm looking forward to richer, smokier stuff. And at $55-60, I have a hard time recommending it. It's not bad, but you can get better for your money. 3.75/5.0. Cheers!