Cadenhead Glenlossie-Glenlivet 17yo Authentic Collection August 2025 & Cadenhead Dailuaine-Glenlivet 16 Year Old (Authentic Collection August 2025)

Cadenhead Glenlossie-Glenlivet 17yo Authentic Collection August 2025

Region: Speyside

ABV: 51.7%

Price: £80.00

Distilled in 2008 and fully matured in a bourbon hogshead, this single cask Glenlossie was bottled in August 2025 with an outturn of 262 bottles.

Nose

The nose is incredibly buttery, think buttered popcorn, buttercream frosting, vanilla sponge cake, lime zest, fizzy peach rings, butter biscuits and some fresh green apple too. The alcohol is nicely balanced, we're getting a little bit of peppery spice but the whisky feels like it has some good age to it. Time and air brings out more of an oaky, biscuitiness, but there's an overriding effervescent fruitiness that fills the glass.  

Palate

The palate opens with a burst of candied fruits, more synthetic sugar in nature, like apple, pear and peach gummy sweets, candied ginger, and toffee bon bons, moving into more of an oaky, slightly astringent finish. The latter palate has our mouth puckering a little bit, it goes a bit dry, like a crisp, acidic white wine. The mouthfeel is fine, a tad thinner than we'd like but the finish does linger on with some vanilla, custard cream biscuits and raw ginger. The alcohol is well balanced though, not much spice at all.

Nose (with water)

The reduced nose maintains the butteriness from the unreduced nose, but it feels richer, with darker sugars, caramelised aromas and more cereal/biscuit notes starting to appear. The citrus is still there, very limey, zingy and still maintains a bit of freshness.

Palate (with water)

The reduced palate feels woodier and brings that astringency to the forefront, it's quite drying, but there's still a creamy vanilla, sponge cake and fresh citrus on the palate. More fruit comes out towards the finish, and the finish does stick around, but water has accentuated some of the astringency for us.

Conclusion

Classic sweet, fruity and mellow Speyside whisky (not that regions are too representative these days). The nose is lovely, balanced, and shows some good age and cask influence, however the palate is a tad less interesting, it's got lots of sweet fruits but turns a little dry and astringent towards the finish. It's between a 6.5 and 7 for us, but the palate unfortunately drops it to a 6.5/10.

Score: 6.5/10

Value

While it’s not our favourite whisky, £80 for a 17yo at cask strength is good value.

Cadenhead Dailuaine-Glenlivet 16 Year Old (Authentic Collection August 2025)

Region: Speyside

ABV: 54.5%

Price: £75.00

Distilled in 2009 and re racked into an Amontillado hogshead in 2020, this single cask Dailuaine was bottled in August 2025 with an outturn of 282 bottles.

Nose

The nose opens with toffee apples, toasted pecans and walnuts, waffle cones, ground ginger, and an apple crumble topping with a dusting of cinnamon. The sherry cask is quite prominent in a nutty, dusty, dark fruits and savoury way - there's a little sweetness but overall it's a richer, drier profile of sherry. Time and air brings out grape must,  cherry cola and a little bit of pickling spice. The alcohol is balanced, there's a bit of mustiness in the background but it's soft and integrated. 

Palate

The palate opens with a mixture of sweet and sour, it's got a ketchup like note, sour cherry, cinnamon sticks, dusty cupboards, caramel log biscuits, brown sugar and freshly grated ginger. There's a mellow coffee-like note that appears on the back palate leading into the good length finish. There's also an oxidised character here, the nutty sherry mixing with that oxidised oak flavour and some fruiter, sweeter top notes are blending well together. We're getting a bit of orange peel on the finish too. The mouthfeel is nice, sugar-syrup like and there's a menthol chew flavour that starts to appear with time in the glass. 

Nose (with water)

The reduced nose has more of a salted caramel, orange peel, cola syrup, and baking spice profile, alongside the warm nuttiness from before. Still balanced, still sweet, salty, nutty and fruity, water has brought a bit of roundness to the dram. 

Palate (with water)

The reduced palate has more of a fizziness, more upfront citrus, orange marmalade, candied nuts, slightly drying but in a good way - balanced, not overly astringent. Water has brought a bit more balance to the palate, just like the nose, and we'd recommend adding a few drops.

Conclusion

This finish on this Dailuaine has worked really well in our opinion - it's prominent but integrated with the spirit, and we're getting a real nuttiness, richness and fruitiness on both the nose and the palate. A few rough edges but a tasty whisky that we'd happily have a dram of. 

Score: 7.5/10

Value

Sherry finish, 16 years old, and cask strength. Yes, please.

• 10 - Perfection. One in a million
• 9 - Outstanding. Exceptional whisky.
• 8 - Great. Would seek this out.
• 7 - Good. Quality whisky.
• 6 - Above average. Happy to have a dram.
• 5 - Average. Drinkable whisky.
• 4 - Below average. Passable.
• 3 - Flawed. Noticeable negatives.
• 2 - Defective. Significant faults.
• 1 - Offensive. Pour it out.

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