The Whisky Warehouse No. 8 was the only German independent bottler to make it into my Whisky Ladies in Europe collection… And I have to confess I’ve been rather impatient to open this after picking it up at Nurnberg’s “The Village” Whisky Festival early March 2020.

For our 2nd virtual tasting, we continued with sampling blind… not knowing what they were trying til the reveal.

Glencadam 8 year (23 Feb 2011/6 June 2019) Bourbon Barrel Cask W8 800125 61% (The Warehouse Collection) 1 of 240 bottles

• Nose – First waft of sweet bubblegum and pears! Then shifted into red current, sweetened cranberry, apples, fresh and leafy, marshmallow, vanilla… then back to orchard fruits
• Palate – Mmm…. nice, smooth, some of the wood also came through with a slightly bitter edge which brought out even more character, which started to mix with honey dew melon, silky smooth
• Finish – Sweet spice with a nicely bitter edge, perhaps a hint of smoke?

In short – brilliant! We absolutely loved this one… It had a fresh springlike quality on the nose yet mellowed until late summer on the palate. Sweet orchard fruits combined with such substance when sipping… What a wonderful contrast!

And with water?

• Nose – Unbelievable… but could this be even sweeter? Clear William Pear… chased by marzipan, then back to delicious pear… inviting one to keep coming back to sniff and enjoy
• Palate – Initially it really kicked up the spice – peppery, then nutmeg… could that be betel leaf? Or tobacco leaf? Then it settled into a delightful mix of fruits, woods and gentle spice
• Finish – Cinnamon bark

With the reveal there was complete surprise that this was 61%?! And only 8 years of age to have such nuanced character? It just goes to show that the right choice by an independent bottler can catch a gem!

Previous experiences with Glencadam official bottling were not so complementary, however this was clearly a winner!

Based on this experience combined with my quick zip through at The Warehouse stall at The Village whisky fest, I ordered a quartet sample set for some future tasting opportunity.

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