Tag: 1994 | MaltKlaus' Daily Drams

August 14, 2019August 13, 2019

Tasting: Springbank 1994-2019 24-year-old by Cadenhead’s

Every year, independent bottler Cadenhead’s gets to select one cask of Springbank whisky to bottle under their own name – and they have to pay their parent company, which owns Springbank distillery, for it. This year, the winner out of apparently 37 casks was a 24-year old Springbank, distilled back in 1994 and matured in a refill ex-bourbon barrel. Must’ve been one heck of a barrel with an outturn of 312 bottles. Maybe it was married and re-racked at some point?
This whisky was featured as one of the drams in the “Director’s Cut” tasting at the Campbeltown Malts Festival this year as a preview and I brought the drample back home with me for a proper assessment.
So, what do you expect from this whisky? Nothing but the best, right? Let’s verify that…

Dram data:
Distillery: Springbank
Bottler: Cadenhead’s
Distilled: 1994
Bottled: 2019
Age: 24 years
Limitation: 312 bottles
Cask: refill barrel
Alcohol: 50,8%
no colouring added / not chill filtered
Whiskybase link

May 12, 2018May 12, 2018

Tasting: Deanston 1994 19 yo by Cadenhead’s Small Batch Collection

Dram data:
Distillery: Deanston
Bottler: Cadenhead’s
Distilled: 1994
Bottled: 2014
Age: 19 years
Limitation: 846 bottles
Casks: Butts
Alcohol: 56,4%
uncoloured / unchillfiltered
Whiskybase link

I guess everybody has one – a distillery whose products they’re struggling with. There are very few of them – but Deanston is amongst them. It’s hard for me to find a Deanston malt that “connects” with me – for whatever reason. So what drove me to purchase this bottling by Cadenhead’s? Don’t remember! Let’s see if this is a Deanston malt that “works” for me…

Tasting notes:
Colour: dark straw
The nose is pretty light – second fill butts were probably used for maturation. We’re greeted by lemon, citrus peel, a whiff of alcohol, unripe grapes and grape seeds on a bed of candyfloss. A mix of limoncello and grappa, perhaps – aged in oak barrels. After 19 years this is still rather spirit-driven, which is not a bad thing unless you’re expecting a sherry bomb. Let it sit for quite a while and more subtle nuances appear, together with a grape and apricot sweetness and fruitiness. Not a dram to be rushed. Quite good so far – let’s see if it’s the same on the palate!

Continue reading “Tasting: Deanston 1994 19 yo by Cadenhead’s Small Batch Collection”

August 5, 2015October 7, 2016

Tasting: Tobermory 20 yo 1994 by Cadenhead’s

Dram data:
Distillery: Tobermory
Bottler: Cadenhead’s
Distilled: 1994
Bottled: 2015
Age: 20 years
Limitation: 570 bottles
Casks: sherry cask
Alcohol: 57,8%
unchillfiltered; natural colour
Whiskybase link

Tasting notes:
Colour: amber
The nose starts with a quite strong mixture of alcohol and sulphur notes (I don’t mind sulphur as long as it’s not taking over, which it isn’t in this case). Oak spices, caramel, cocoa and hints of dried dark fruits in the background, but this baby needs a bit of water for further dissection. Three espresso spoons to a 25 ml measure seems about right. Ah yes, a classic european oak ex-sherry cask nose, none of this polished, vanilla-laden designer stuff from American oak casks we see so much of these days… Aged to a point where the cask spices take over the sherry influence – but don’t mistake it for being over-the-top woody, it isn’t at all, just the european oak flexing its muscles, that’s all. Continue reading “Tasting: Tobermory 20 yo 1994 by Cadenhead’s”

March 29, 2015October 7, 2016

Tasting: Clynelish 1994 – 2015 by Cadenhead’s (coming soon…)

Dram data:
Distillery: Clynelish
Bottler: Cadenhead’s
Distilled: 1994
Bottled: 2015 (coming soon!)
Age: 20/21 years
Limitation: unknown
Casks: Ex-Sherry Butt
Alcohol: unknown (probably mid-50s)
Unchillfiltered, natural colour
Whiskybase link

Tasting notes:
Colour: amber
The nose doesn’t leave anything for discussion: This is European oak ex-sherry (butt) matured! Rich dark creamy sherry notes with a noticeable oak influence. Continue reading “Tasting: Clynelish 1994 – 2015 by Cadenhead’s (coming soon…)”