Glendullan 1996 Cadenhead's Small Batch Review

Hi everyone,

Today I’ve got another obscure distillery that I haven’t reviewed before.

Glendullan, ever heard of it?

Maybe not, but that’s because all of it was used for blends up until very recently when it joined The Singleton range, along with Dufftown and Glen Ord. The Glendullan is saved for the USA market, while Europe get Dufftown and Asia get Glen Ord.

Interestingly, it joined the prestigious ranks of Clynelish/Brora & Linkwood A/B when Diageo built a new distillery next to the old one in 1972. They ran simultaneously until 1985 when ‘Old’ Glendullan was shut down for good. This fits almost exactly the same dates as Linkwood A (1971-1985). It would be very, very interesting to know whether ‘Old’ Glendullan used worm tubs and the ‘New’ Glendullan shell & tube condensers, as that would fit with the other examples.

I wonder if there are any other distilleries that have done this? Anyone want to trawl through MaltMadness profiles for me?

Anyway, this is an indie from Cadenhead’s Small Batch. Which would mean that they’ve taken a small number of casks and vatted them together rather than using them as single casks.

Glendullan 1996 Cadenhead’s Small Batch 55.6%

Colour: Light Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Light and malty style spirit, lemon, melon, wet chalk, some vanilla, light honey, an oaky alcoholic note.

Water: More oak, floral notes, dried rose petals, lilac, more honey. Watermelon and cucumber after a bit.

Taste: Intense, very malty, chalk, lemon, alcohol taking over with a flinty side, wet stone, slate, nut, oak building, barrel char, lemony oak, more chalk.

Water: Softer, beautiful arrival, lovely floral and citrusy oak, more balance.

Finish: Medium length. Intense oak, refill tannins and some weak coffee.

Bottled 2014 at 18yo.

73/100

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Review #431

Whisky Network Review #491

Network Average: 74.3

Best Score: 92

Worst Score: 22

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as a Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

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