The Duchess Caperdonich 25YO Cask 30900 (56.2%)

The Duchess has managed to get their hands on a very exclusive whisky from a closed and later demolished iconic Speyside distillery!
Caperdonich was originally created to be an addition to the Glen Grant distillery in 1998 as Glen Grant number two. After being closed from 1901 until 1965, the former owner The Glenlivet & Glen Grant Distilleries re-opened the distillery as Caperdonich until it was closed down in 2001 and demolished in 2010 by Pernod Picard.

TASTING NOTES
This dram reminds us of that eighties style bourbon matured whiskies that we love and we see less and less. Even the BenRiach 1976 springs to mind. This certainly is one of those old-style drams.

Nose: A lovely nose with plums, cherries, honeycomb, a flowery bouquet, ripe pears and bourbon flavors. After some air tea and oranges also come into play. These aromas are what the distillery is known for. After a little longer the flavors develop into nice cotton candy and whiffs of bubblegum.

Taste: Holy! Breakfast is best served with good English tea! Honey and white fruit (pears), apricots (more to the background), and again those oranges are eminent again on the palate, evolving into a more yogurt/zesty touch. A milky creaminess on the tongue, certainly my kind of dram.

Finish: A lingering long finish with flavors of tea, orange zest, and green herbs tending to basil.
Balance and complexity: Very well balanced! The nose and taste are almost Siamese twins. The characteristics we get to enjoy are so nicely integrated. Though the alcohol is 56.2%, it tastes so smooth and sophisticated that no one could tell. This a perfect example of how an aged Caperdonich is at the top of its game!