The Whiskybase Shop recently created a sample set of recent Cadenhead’s bottlings. Always a nice opportunity to try whiskies from bottlers that generally don’t care too much about reviews. We’re trying a 28 year-old Burnside from the brick-style bottle and five tall bottles from the Chairman’s Stock series.
Burnside 28 yo (46%, Cadenhead’s ‘Original Collection’, bourbon casks)
Nose: starts with a fruit salad, including peaches, stewed pears and hints of tinned pineapple. Apple pith and subtle dusty / fatty hints. Then also floral honey and some vanilla custard, as well as whiffs of hand cream. Mild toffee notes after a while.
Mouth: slightly generic, in the sense that you mostly get orchard fruits, hay, gorse, some vanilla custard warming oaky notes. It also brings along candied ginger, light resinous notes, leather and more toffee roundness. A little white pepper and lemon zest towards the end.
Finish: medium to long, on zesty citrus, yellow apples and oak spice like aniseed and ginger. Maybe a pinch of cocoa as well.
Pleasant whisky, you know, but nothing spectacular. I’m thinking this was a little over-oaked and bringing it down made it more accessible – and more affordable. It’s around £ 145 in the UK (which is nice) and all the way up to € 260 in Europe (which is harder to swallow).
Tomatin 13 yo 2011 (51,3%, Cadenhead’s ‘Chairman’s Stock’ 2025, bourbon barrel, 204 btl.)
Nose: red apples and flower honey, with sweet citrus, some white grape and a buttery edge. Gets quite a bit creamier over time, with plenty of custard notes. A greener side develops in the background, something vegetal and grassy.
Mouth: creamy and sweet again, with more lemon sweets, later also grapefruit and candied ginger. Honey brings roundness, but it’s constantly alternating with a tangy side. Mineral notes, some jasmine, grasses, white pepper and aniseed. Then a mild bitterness of tonic water sets in as well.
Finish: medium, with more citrus zest, pepper and floral oak.
Not a bad start, although it’s still a fairly generic bourbonny nose. On the palate it becomes sharper with an almost medicinal edge. Decent whisky, but not very seductive. Score: 84/100
Ben Nevis 26 yo 1999 (51,5%, Cadenhead’s ‘Chairman’s Stock’ 2025, bourbon hogshead, 186 btl.)
Nose: hints of paraffin and candle wax, along with cereal notes, peaches, gooseberries and a little vanilla. Then some metallic notes, a little engine oil and leafy hints. Ginger biscuits. Floral notes with grass clippings and citrus green tea.
Mouth: oily with a nice tropical fruitiness, albeit a tad reserved. Peaches, hints of mango, lime and maracuya sherbet. A little cardamom, as well as a hint of caramel sweetness, bready elements and some woody notes, including light pepper and mint.
Finish: quite long, now becoming fairly neutral, mostly on herbal oak and a vague fruity echo.
We’ve had Ben Nevis 1999 before, but it seemed a slightly greener vintage. In this bottling we get a classic profile though, including some tropical fruitiness. Less stellar than other vintages, in my opinion, but still good complexity. Score: 88/100
Miltonduff 17 yo 2008 (51,5%, Cadenhead’s ‘Chairman’s Stock’ 2025, rum barrel, 216 btl.)
Nose: shortbread with hints of popcorn, along with green apples and floral top notes. Light damp notes, hints of dough, apple peelings and some green bananas. Okay.
Mouth: quite robust, showing a sweet green fruitiness, on apples, unripe bananas, but again showing some more austere notes as well. Malt eau-de-vie, hints of porridge and beer. Something pepper, as well as an unexpected dark hint of coffee beans in alcohol. Even a salty note.
Finish: medium, with grassy notes, lemongrass and green wood.
These four whiskies all have a clear bourbonny footprint but also a certain austerity that make them less easy, and more complex. From Miltonduff I’m expecting a seductive sweetness but that isn’t really present here. Score: 82/100
Tullibardine 13 yo 2012 (54%, Cadenhead’s ‘Chairman’s Stock’ 2025, Tawny Port finish, 210 btl.)
Nose: a rather dry and winey Port influence. Cellar notes. Weird hints of diesel or perhaps a rum-like note. Some strawberries in the distance, overtaken by mulching leaves. Then also caramelized notes and herbal hints, like thyme.
Mouth: quite dry and herbal again, bringing along mossy notes and slightly bitter herbs. Old wood. Then more acrid notes, a walnut bitterness and hints of toasted wood. A nice hint of roast’ed hazelnut and mocha in the end though, but by now we’ve lost our interest.
Finish: more of these nice nutty hints, with cold coffee.
Simply not so good. The balance is a little off, the Port influence is strangely dry and rather winey. Not my thing. Score: 78/100
Ardnamurchan 5 yo 2019 (60,1%, Cadenhead’s ‘Chairman’s Stock’ 2025, Oloroso hogshead, 324 btl.)
Nose: malt loaf with raisins, dried figs and hints of dried meat. The sherry is well integrated: dark, caramelly and roasted, with smoke in the background. Then just a little latex, as well as fudge and burnt sugar. Even a light farmy note.
Mouth: a firm peaty onset, with light tarry notes, nutmeg and plenty of herbal notes. Hints of dark chocolate and coffee beans. Then hints of vermouth, combining a winey touch with herbs and pepper. A leathery note as well, always with this umami character, bacon and fruit acidity.
Finish: medium to long, dry and dark, on herbs, smoked bacon and tarry ashes.
This one has a lot to say despite its young age. The balance is still a little off perhaps, focusing on dry and herbal notes, sometimes fighting with the smoky character. Entertaining with room for improvement. Score: 83/100