Cadenheads Original Collection Glenburgie 13yo & Cadenheads Original Collection Tamdhu 15yo

Cadenheads Original Collection Glenburgie 13yo

Region: Speyside

ABV: 46.0%

Price: £60.00

This release was initially transferred to port casks from bourbon, but after two years was transferred back to refill bourbon to finish its maturation.

Nose

The nose opens with cherry jam, blackcurrants, blackberries, just a medley of dark fruits. There’s also some richer aromas of freshly brewed espresso, toasted walnuts and a herbal, eucalyptus-like note. It’s big and bold, dusty wardrobes, roasted figs and a little bit of leather appears as the dram opens up. There’s a little bit of of rum and raisin ice cream thing going on too.

Palate

 The palate brings out some big milk chocolate and caramel flavours initially, with cinnamon and ginger spice backing them up. We’re also finding a similar medley of dark fruits - blackcurrants, cherries, raspberries, a few underripe strawberries too giving a bit of acidity to balance the richness. It feels a bit higher than 46%, there’s some peppery spice and warm, dry oak that we’re finding lingers on the good length finish. The mouthfeel is fine, not too viscous, but there’s still some body here.

Nose (with water)

The reduced nose has a slightly more bitter aroma up front, we’ve got grapefruit, roasted peanuts, charred oak, burnt honey, but there are still some of those darker fruits sitting in the background. We’re also getting more coffee notes appearing after some air.

Palate (with water)

The reduced palate begins with the same blackcurrant/blackberry flavours, quickly moving into more chocolate and caramel, mirroring the unreduced palate quite closely. We feel as if the flavours have all morphed into a harmonious balance now, and it’s super pleasant - some of that dryness on the finish has turned into syrupy cola cubes and Ribena.

Conclusion

A big, bold dram full of dark fruits and oak - must have been quite an active port cask (or perhaps a little wet). It’s a little bit dry on the finish, but there’s enough sweetness from the fruits beforehand to balance this out. Decent mouthfeel, good finish, a successful additional maturation in our eyes. We’d suggest experimenting with water, we quite enjoyed the palate with a drop or two. We’ll go with 7/10.

Score: 7/10

Value

Pretty reasonable value.

Cadenheads Original Collection Tamdhu 15yo

Region: Speyside

ABV: 46.0%

Price: £70.00

This release was initially transferred to oloroso casks from bourbon, but after a year was transferred back to refill bourbon to finish its maturation.

Nose

The nose opens with picked walnuts, sherry vinegar, menthol sweets, sultanas, clove and a little bit of nutmeg too. It’s a bold nose, distinctively dry oloroso without too many sweeter aromas appearing. In the background we’re finding some maraschino cherries, wet earth and cinder toffee. There’s also some beef oxo cubes and chimney soot.

Palate

The palate opens with spiced cherries, cinnamon, dark chocolate nibs and a little bit of chili heat. We’re also finding earthier notes of oregano, rosemary to compliment that meaty, beef flavour that’s come from the nose. It’s drier than we expected, with a mellow flavour of charred oak chips, like a good BBQ brisket. The mouthfeel is reasonable and the finish lingers for a while, mostly of burnt caramel and coffee.

Nose (with water)

The reduced nose brings out a lot more meat, cumin rubbed steaks, fresh thyme… it actually reminds us of thyme and rosemary roast potatoes. We’re also getting a bit of vanilla sweetness appearing, presumably from the original bourbon casks.

Palate (with water)

The reduced palate has dark chocolate and coffee in abundance, a little bit of condensed milk drizzled into that coffee too. Interestingly, some of that meatiness from the unreduced palate has disappeared and we’re getting more cherries and chocolate now.

Conclusion

A drier type of sherry maturation, it works quite well in this case. It’s perhaps a little too dry for us, but we appreciate the style and can’t fault it all too much. There’s a bit too much spice on the palate, but we enjoyed some of the richer chocolate and coffee flavours coming through.

Score: 7/10

Value

15 year old sherry matured whisky for £70 isn’t bad at all these days.

• 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.

If you like what you’ve read then check out our social media (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram) to get notifications of when we post a new review or just to chat about whisky with us.