Cadenhead's Warehouse Tasting with Donald Brown - Campbeltown Whisky Vlog
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- Опубліковано 6 вер 2024
- See what it is like inside a Cadenhead Warehouse tasting with Donald Brown
Strathmill 26 year 52% Bourbon
Tormore 30 year 48.2% Bourbon
Loch Lomond 12 year 57% Bourbon
GlenBurgie 14 Year 54.3% (12 Bourbon, 2 sherry)
Hazelburn 12 year 58% First Fill Sherry
Edrington Blend 38 year 45.3%
Ardmore 5 year 58.5%
Rum Blend 62%
Great to be back in Warehouse No 9 at Cadenhead's - if only vicariously. I loved my tasting here back in July and was very impressed by the range of whiskies on offer for tasting. That wonderful old blend of Edrington whiskies was quite superb and I was sorely tempted to snap one up, but in my tasting we had a Benrinnes 23yo (1995, 53.5%) which pipped it at the post. Others in my group went for the young Ardmore, the Tormore 30yo, and the 11yo Islay malt, whose name must never be spoken. All in all, we had a ball and I don't think 2 hours have ever gone past that quickly! Suffice to say that what's on offer here are whiskies at very fair prices which are definitely going to tickle the fancy of every whisky enthusiast. Well done Cadenhead's! And many thanks to you both, Deepa and Phil, for making the vid and uploading it in order to spread the good word and the good cheer! Cheers.
Thanks Russell. We felt exactly the same. Very good prices and try before you buy :-) And what an environment to try.
This video for me also brought me right back to the warehouse No9 , some of the same whiskies too ( Tormore, and the 38 year old blend). When there in July it was a cold and raining day, was perfect really for whisky sipping!! Also interestingly the gentleman with the gloves , I believe American from Chicago, was also on the warehouse tasting with us that day!! He must visit frequently!!
Thanks for the memories!!
Graeme Young yep, I visited in July as well - but on a beautiful sunny day - and tried many of the same casks. Did you smell the angel's share while watching the vid? Cheers!
Ha that is Funny that Scott was there at the same time for both of us. I will send him the video. Maybe he goes every day.
Lovely lineup! Hilarious that Donald give you, of all people, an Ardmore blind... nailed it! Well done, thanks for sharing.
That was a proud moment. Probably the only Distillery we could pick out :-)
Mouthwatering I have to say...that blend was probably thought to be a Famous Grouse De Luxe over 18 yo (they did some earlier on) & then left over aside for some reason...(but with some great stuff inside it seems !). Nice line up, guys, you've blessed all the way during your trip there, guys ! Cheers ! 🤪
PS: AND it was ECBP bottlekill time, hey, hey ! Nice moment !
Thanks Greg. Feeling even luckier now after missing it this year.
@@WhiskyMystery You're welcome & yeah same for me in 2018 (6 Scottish distilleries visited), hoping some day I will resume my journey to this beautiful country...
Amazing video guys! Campbeltown is my favorite region and Springbank is my favorite distillery 🙂👍👌
Ha yes I have noticed 😀. You have to plan a visit.
Like the other guy said, I'm also not a big Bourbon fan, finding it far too sickly maple syrup sweet for my taste, but I do like Elijah Craig which I find a lot dryer than say, Four Roses. EC is the Bourbon for Scotch Whisky drinkers!
FYI. I'm pretty sure I remember seeing a few Elijah Craig casks in the Deanston warehouse.
We can only get the Small Batch here in Israel. I'd like to try to the Cask Strength Barrel Proof one day. I do however love the way in which the Bourbon interacts with the new make spirit in the cask to make Scotch though.
You made an absolutely excellent point when you said that it's very important to know what Bourbon (and rum and sherry as well) tastes like in order to fully appreciate where all those tastes are coming from in the Scotch Single malt.
You will be surprised the amount of times I've asked whisky reviewers how many different rums, sherries or ports they have tasted and receive the answer, well actually I've never drank sherry before! How can you review a whisky and talk about sherry influence when you have never tasted actual Spanish sherry before?
Congratulations on your recognition of Ardmore. Very impressive!
Thanks Rob. It was pretty funny that Ardmore was the blind taste as we have some history with those flavors. I agree with everything that you said. We are trying to learn about the different flavors and have realized we need to try more Sherry and Port etc.
I believe that the Great Ralfy did a video on Sherry and Port. It was excellent. As he said, good quality aged sherry and port does not have to be expensive and is worth getting to know.
Out of the few different types of whisky demonstrations I give both here in Israel and occasionally in Essex, England, where my parents live, my favourite whisky evening is presenting the Yarden Golan Heights "T2" Port Style (matured in French Oak) Israeli Wine along side the Golan Heights Distillery Single Malt Whisky matured in the very same First Fill fresh Ex-Yarden "T2" Cask.
I give them a glass of T2 port from the same vintage year as the cask used to mature the whisky. It is a real education to sit there and discover all those shared flavours.
@@RebMordechaiReviews That is a great idea to have the matching port to a whisky
Thank you so much for the video. I was planning on going on this tour in two weeks time but after watching this, I feel I have already done it! Your tasting notes were very descriptive. Still, the thought of personally experiencing whisky straight from the cask in the warehouse itself, is quite intriguing.
You asked an incredibly astute question, one that I usually enquire about and didn’t think anyone else would think of asking. A subject I talk about a lot and which is very misunderstood. That is, whether Donald Brown knew which type of oak the European Sherry cask was made from, i.e. whether American White Oak (QA) or European Galician Oak (QR).
In my many years of discussing this issue, I have found that there aren’t many people who know or even care about this. Even “so-called” whisky experts who write books on the subject, (I could quote you the books and page numbers but I don’t want to publicly embarrass them), wrongly assume and "inform" you that all European Sherry casks are made from European oak but, (as I see you already know), this isn’t true! In fact, the majority of European made casks are actually made from American White Oak.
Could I ask you, where did you learn this from?
Just as impressive was Donald Brown’s amazingly honest reply. Unlike so many “experts” who say that the most dominant influence is the wood quality and type; my understanding is that it is a combination of the wood quality (that is, the number of times the cask has been used), and the previous contents of the cask which has the most dominant influence. I do not deny that the wood type does have an influence when it comes to different spice notes but its influence is, in my opinion, exaggerated.
When it comes to First-Fill casks, by far the most important aspect of flavour of the whisky which forms its character, is the Bourbon, Sherry, Rum or whether the cask has been charred or toasted.
This is exactly what Donald said. When I heard his I turned to my dear wife and said “Wow!”
I was initially a bit put off from signing up to the warehouse tasting session when Donald said he wouldn’t accept any special requests for particular casks. The reason is that for religious reasons, I do not drink any whisky matured in Ex-Sherry or wine casks. (There are a few kosher port and wine cask matured whiskies on the market today but that’s another subject).
However, I see that overwhelming majority of the casks he chose were in fact Ex-Bourbon. I am moreover, particularly interested in the older 18 Years plus casks, perhaps Ex-Rum as well as Ex-Bourbon.
I, like you both, would have preferred to have sampled at least some peaty whiskies as well. Interesting that you said that Donald was not too keen on them.
Thanks Rob for your thoughtful reply. I only just realized that Sherry cask’s may be made from American Oak on this trip. Not quite sure where I picked up that information. Maybe at the Glen Scotia warehouse tasting which was absolutely fantastic and I certainly recommend doing a tasting in a warehouse somewhere. It is not that expensive and something that you must do if you are visiting a distillery. For us at least it was a first time experience so we really couldn’t miss it. I am absolutely sure if you said you couldn’t drink a Sherry or port finished whisky they would give you something else. I always thought the peppiness of Sherry matured whisky was due to European oak but now I’m wondering if you could get the same pepperiness even when it’s American Oak. What do you think?
I refer the honourable gentleman to the answer I gave some moments ago. It's all about getting to know the qualities of the previous contents of the cask.
In this case Wine or Sherry. There is a chemical in the skins of grapes and other berries called Rotundone. During the wine making and fermenting process this chemical starts to assert itself in combination with the natural tannin both from the skin and eventually from oak casks. This combination of Rotundone and tannins produces a remarkable imitation of freshly ground black pepper! Surprise-surprise, you will find the same chemical in black pepper. This red wine black pepper is more associated with Shiraz but in my experience, any red wine which has been matured in toasted (not charred) oak will impart lovely fresh "sweet" freshly ground black pepper, irrespective of the type of oak.
Perhaps European QR oak might produce a slightly more "peppery hot" black pepper note whereas the American Oak will be less hot and sweeter?
Another awesome tasting!
Thanks Quig
There can be no doubt as to Ardmore being your “trigger” whisky. You spotted something in it then & it’s stayed with you consistently. Really awesome to see you call it out when it literally could have been any whisky in Scotland. I had a very different warehouse 9 tasting w/ a diff guide (feel terrible but I’ve forgotten his name). The only whisky that overlapped was the Loch Lomond. Our guide picked something from all the different regions (including a delicious glen scotia). The Islay he gave us was this absurdly good Lagavulin 1st fill Oloroso 12yo. Probably the best heavily peated whisky I’ve ever had. Both the guide and I were gonna buy a bottle, but they were sold out. 😭 The guide felt so bad he gave us another 3 drams to try of the other bottles available for sale. It came down to an 11yr Lagavulin and a 19yr Bunna. Went w/ the Bunna but it was very close. Thx for another great video! Btw, can’t wait for the final bottle reveal video! 😄
Thanks Jay. The Ardmore call out was pretty funny considering our history with that distillery. We rally must go and visit. These whiskies were not the type that we have been attracted to so far so it was a good perspective shift. Sorry you picked a sold out bottle. So sad. The final bottle reveal is going to be long. Maybe we run it as a premiere. Might be fun. But is is still a way off as there are many other videos still to go. Where are you heading next?
Captain 3D ah yes! A premiere would be great fun! 😃 I did a walk from Milngavie outside of Glasgow to Balmaha by Loch Lomond yesterday. Some really gorgeous countryside/forest/mountain scenes along the way (plus glengoyne). Gonna chill by Loch Lomond for another day & a half before heading over to Edinburgh.
@@jaychung6622 Wow fantastic. I literally pictured you just lying on the lake side :-)
Finally glad to see the ecbp bottle kill! It felt almost symbolic of your journey through Scotland. Can't wait for the haul video!
Thanks Sean. It felt right to leave it in a Springbank Warehouse. Haul video is under construction but still a lot of London shops to see first.
@@WhiskyMystery take your time. I'm sure it'll be epic!
@@seanzeng Hope so.
Oh This ECBP was one of three we brought over.
@@WhiskyMystery haha that makes sense given the number of stops
Another small intimate tasting, looks like you picked the right time of year for your trip. Kids are all back to school not as many people traveling.
They did ask us if we wanted to change to this tasting as there were 20 people booked for the afternoon. Glad we did.
@@WhiskyMystery Cool the advantage of drinking Whisky in the morning!!! They say your palate is more sensitive earlier in the day too ;-p
@@DonnerPassWhisky After the first cask strength dram it all evens out :-)
Love following you two. Slainte ❣️
Thanks Chad
what a great time you had!!!
Yes another great day
Great video!
Thanks Adolfo
All these tastings and tours have me saving my pennies now. Question: Assuming you were able to keep all of the distillery specific tasting copitas? Was that part of each tour package?
Yes if you pay for a warehouse tasting you keep the glasses. If it is just a tour then maybe not.
@@WhiskyMystery That makes sense. Nice memento as well. Cheers Phil and Deepa!
Ardmore! Who'd have thought 😀 the last of the Elijah Craig too.
Yes pretty funny n that it was Ardmore. Don’t worry I had more ECBP back at my parents.
Did you drinking all of each pour? I’d be pretty buzzed after a couple of those.
We shared and saved the rest in little bottles. We were still in real trouble. See the next video... ua-cam.com/video/hqFEwJouq6o/v-deo.html
How have you enjoyed yourselves so far guys ? Has it been a success...🥃
Absolutely. A bit overload, for us lightweight drinkers, some days but so many interesting things to see and try for the first time.
Awesome video! keep it up. How much was the 38-year blend?
Thanks Sam. Sorry I do not remember the price now. Under £200 I think
@@WhiskyMystery Ahh ok, for that price you better off getting a few of the other bottles i guess.
@@Sam-yd9uq I am pretty sure it was over £150. We bought the 14 year Glenburgie (sherry) for about £50
@@Sam-yd9uq I went back and watched my unedited video and I am pretty sure Donald said it was £150 (maybe £160). Made with Macallan, Highland Park, Glenrothes, Tamdu, Invergordon (grain). 45% ABV and unknown how much of each component.
@@WhiskyMystery Thank you :)