Last week’s review was of a Clynelish 16 (bottled by the Whisky Agency). Let’s stay in the Highlands for at least another week, at Glencadam. Of course, Glencadam is not located anywhere near Clynelish. Glencadam is located on the other side of the Speyside, much further south and east, between Dundee and Aberdeen. Well, I suppose it’s closer to a number of other distilleries that are also officially in the Highlands region: Fettercairn is not too far away and even Blair Athol and Edradour are much closer than any of the distilleries in the northern Highlands. I’ve not reviewed very much Glencadam on the blog, and in fact this is my second review of the Glencadam 21. I first reviewed it more than 10 years ago from a sample from the redoubtable Michael K. I’ve not heard from Michael in a while and I’ve not heard much about Glencadam either. (That’s a transition for the ages.) Back then, the 21 yo was the top of the distillery’s lineup. It doesn’t seem to still be around. The “Core Range” listed on the distillery’s site tops out at a 15 yo; though there is a 27 yo among their “Limited Editions”. The full lineup does seem to have expanded dramatically since I last paid attention more than a decade ago. Unless I’m mistaken, in days of yore the choices were the 10, 15 and 21 year olds. Now there’s a whole “Cask Finish” range in addition to the “Core Range” and “Limited Editions”. If any of that other stuff makes its way to the US, I’ve not seen it. Anyway, I liked that sample of the 21 yo back in 2016. I’ve not read my previous tasting notes before sitting down with this pour. I’m curious to see what I make of it now from near the top of my own bottle and to see how the two sets of notes compare across 10 years.

Glencadam 21 (46%; from my own bottle)

Nose: A lovely blend of orchard fruit (sweet apple, pear, cherry) dusted with sugar and framed by some lightly toasted oak. A bit of brown butter on the second sniff and a hint of beeswax as well. As it sits, cereals emerge. A couple of drops of water brings out more malt, and makes the fruit muskier and the oak dustier.

Palate: Comes in with more acid here: think a fruit salad of everything above with some lemon zest. Perfect drinking strength with a lightly oily texture. The citrus gets muskier with time and the oak gets a little spicier. Okay, let’s add water. A couple of drops and the citrus is emphasized, picking up a metallic edge

Finish: Medium. The oak tingles as the fruit fades. The finish extends with water, along the lines of the palate.

Comments: I have to say I liked this a lot more now than I did 10 years ago. It’s possible that sample was from the end of the life of the bottle it came from, whereas this review is from the top of my bottle. Or maybe my tastes have subtly altered. As I review my prior notes, they’re really not very different from this set—except I didn’t get the slightly soapy note here that I marked on that occasion on the palate. Anyway, this is a very nice, mellow malt that presents a balanced mix of malt, fruit and oak. Well, I still have a bottle of the old 10 yo (purchased at the same time as this one). I should open that too soon.

Rating: 88 points.