With Christmas almost upon us thoughts move ahead to New Year, a celebration which the Scots dominate.
So a timely discovery is Cadenheads, a wonderfully atmospheric, old-style emporium on Canongate, part of Edinburgh’s Royal Mile. Cadenhead claims to be Scotland’s oldest independent bottler -
William Cadenhead has a well established pedigree and the experience of over one and a half centuries ensure that our customers can truly rely on what we put in a bottle. We guarantee that we never chill-filter or chemically alter the products that we bottle nor do we add colouring agents. Each of our bottlings of whisky, and indeed of our rums and cognacs, comes from an individually selected cask.
Hence they offer an impressive range of whiskies (and rum) which are bottled from a single cask – each cask can be quite different even from the same year – factors such as the oak and storage conditions can make a difference to the spirit – not necessarily a uniform product, which the bigger international brands will aim for. This adds a whole new dimension to whisky selection – most consumers now understand the difference between single malt and blended whisky, between Scottish Whisky and Irish Whiskey, and between Highland, Lowland, Islay areas etc. So now you can also choose between different bottlings! This could be a fascinating (if expensive) journey of exploration.
Although seriously Scottish in their history and focus, Cadenhead also bottle rum and are expanding their range into World Whiskies – Single Malt from New Zealand, bourbon from America, whisky from Canada as well as single grain whisky from Scotland. Future bottlings will include Japanese and Australian malts.
Yes, Australian Malt Whisky – which comes from Tasmania, where the climate is rather more temperate than most of Mainland Australia – e.g. www.tasmanianwhisky.com.au/ where the Small Concern Distillery produces Cradle Mountain Malt: ”
Pure rainwater from the isolated craggy peaks of the Tasmanian Highlands helps to produce the unique, smooth taste of Cradle Mountain Single Malt Whisky.
Triple distilled for extra smoothness, Cradle Mountain Malt is made using the world’s finest Franklin barley and one of the purest sources of water on the earth. Cradle Mountain Malt has a pale straw colour with a faintly honeyish nose. It has a smooth palate and is clean tasting with a lingering afterglow.”
William Cadenhead , 172 Canongate Edinburgh EH8 8BN
T: 0131 556 5864 F: 0131 556 2527 E: chws@wmcadenhead.com
also at Campbeltown, Argyll and at Cadenheads 26 Chiltern Street, London W1U 7QF
