My choice for the next Special Release 2019 from Diageo is Cardhu, which
is the spiritual home of John Walker & Sons. Most people may be familiar with
Cardhu through their commercial bottlings of their 12 Year Old, their
15 Year Old and 18 Year Old expressions. These sell incredibly well in the
Mediterranean countries like Greece and Spain, and it's only in the last couple
of years that we've actually taken some of that allocation and promoted it,
recommended it for people to drink in the UK. Now, Cardhu is almost like having
a reawakening. The 12 Year Old is noted for its creamy, sweet mouthfeel.
Now the best thing about the Special Releases, it allows the master blenders at Diageo to
experiment, to create a new flavour. So, with this particular expression which
I'm going to taste along with Henry, who's the features editor for Master of Malt,
and what's happened here is we've taken the 12 Year Old core expression
and then we've converted it, changed it, re-racked it into a sherry cask. Now,
for some people who are not familiar with sherry and all the different
expressions that it gives, we've chosen to give a sheen, an extra coat to
Cardhu by putting it into an Amontillado cask which gives almost a medium
kind of nutty richness to the whisky. So if you can just imagine Amontillado,
as you can see from here, thick, rich and viscous with almost like a hard
toffee nose. We've taken 12 Year Old Cardhu and put it into an Amontillado
cask for an extra two years. This is Cardhu in HD.
Probably the most complex expression that I've tasted from this distillery in a very long time and
I've tasted Amber Rock, I've tasted Gold Reserve, the 12, the 15 and the 18 but this
is very very special. So whether you are a fan of sherry and you want to see that
express itself in Cardhu or whether you are a Cardhu fan and you want to see how
it can be elevated by a different cask, or even a beginner who's never tasted
Cardhu, of the Special Releases this is innovation by the Diageo blenders that
have created something a little bit special. So without further ado I think
we should join together Henry, and taste Cardhu. Incidentally this has come out of
the barrel in Scotland at 55%.
So once again for those of you who are maybe a
little bit shy of the nose prickle or the alcohol burn, just a couple of drops
of water will unleash the aromas and just dumb down, temper down the alcohol.
Beautiful colour, I don't really go too much on colour but what I would say is
sometimes you can wax lyrical, so this is the colour of a Speyside sunset.
On the nose I'm getting
mature apple, orchard fruit
and whereas that normal creamy sweetness you get
with the 12 Year Old and the other expressions
the Amontillado has changed that. It's just a hint, just a drizzle
of allspice coming through on the nose.
I think Henry it's time to taste. Here's to Helen Cumming!
Oh my God, this is where that two years in sherry cask has completely
transformed the whisky. Imagine, as it happens I have here this is Cardhu
straight off the still.
This is Cardhu after 14 years maturation, two of them in an Amontillado cask
I think it should be said, to summarise, is that the master blenders
in Diageo are the people who make decisions to create new flavours and
new expressions, which makes whisky such a
fantastic category to be working in in 2019 going forward.
Special Release Cardhu, 55%, 12 years in American barrels
added to two years in Spanish Amontillado casks.
This truly is a meeting of two different countries brought together to create a
new expression for Cardhu.
14 years old, smells like teen spirit,
tastes like Nirvana. Fantastic expression.