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Kensington Wine Market's 2023 Whisky Calendar UBER EDITION Day 7 - Boutique-y Caperdonich 23 Year Old

Posted on December 8, 2023

I have talked about That Boutique-y Whisky Company in a few blog posts over the past two or three years, thanks to their inclusion in our prior KWM Whisky Calendars. I will skip going into more detail on them for now, but let’s talk about Caperdonich.

Caperdonich Distillery does not exist. The end. Shall we give the whisky a taste?

…

Okay, just kidding. Sort of.

Once upon a time (read: about 125 years ago), in a land far, far away (Scotland) there was a distillery known as Glen Grant. In 1897, when Scotch Whisky was amid one of its boom times and the temperance movement/fun police had not yet arrived in full force to spoil things, the Glen Grant distillery was doing so well that owner James Grant decided to build a second distillery right across the road.

In a fit of creativity, James decided to name this new concern Glen Grant No. 2. So it was that Glen Grant No. 2 was up and running in just a short period later, allowing it to operate for nearly a handful of years before the whisky market crashed and the distillery closed for the first time in 1902. Worry not for this darling distillery though, for it quickly opened again just a short six decades later in 1965, once again helping boost the production of Glen Grant No. 1.

One expansion and one dozen years later, in 1977, Glen Grant No. 2 was finally considered important enough to get its own, unique name: Caperdonich. After years of riding on the coattails of its famous big brother, Caperdonich finally was able to develop its own personality and soul. The owners did not like that concept, though, so in 1985 new copper stills were installed. These stills were directly modelled after Glen Grant No. 1’s stills, with the hopes of correcting the pesky and unwanted individuality that Caperdonich exhibited.

These efforts were ultimately for naught, and Caperdonich’s owners eventually grew tired of it not being Glen Grant, and gave it up for adoption in 2001. Pernod Ricard took over and fostered the distillery for an entire year before also giving up, shutting Caperdonich permanently, and selling the distillery site to Forsyth’s. After the copper stills and equipment were sold off and anything of value carried away the site was demolished in 2011.

There is the story of Caperdonich. It never stood a chance. It made decent whisky, but it did not make Glen Grant whisky the way it should have. Because of this, it does not exist anymore, and there is nothing to remember it by other than a few bottles like this one.

Stories like this are sad, but a dime a dozen in the cruel and harsh whisky industry. For every booming distillery and company out there that has survived hard times such as war, prohibition, and economic downturns, there are the ghosts of the dead that did not.

If you are lucky enough, you get to taste what some of these ghosts produced when they were among the living. So let’s do that today with this Caperdonich. Then, perhaps, we can join together in a chorus of screams, raging against the dying of the light. So many distilleries are cut down before their time, and we only find out how great their whisky is after their time is past.

I don’t know about you, but all of this lamenting makes me thirsty! Shall we try this whisky out?

Boutique-y Caperdonich Batch 6 - 23 Year Old - 47.8%

Evan’s Tasting Note

Nose: Sunflower seeds, Chicken broth mix, apple and pear slices, lemon zinger tea with honey, and a hint of pine needles.

Palate: Apple cider with cinnamon, sponge toffee, lychee,

Finish: Creamy with lingering fruit, spice, and nut notes.

Comment: Fun whisky - not one that will make me run out and collect every Caperdonich I can get my hands on, but it does make me want to taste more.

Cheers,
Evan
evan@kensingtonwinemarket.com
Facebook & Instagram: @sagelikefool

You can find all blog posts for the UBER EDITION of Kensington Wine Market’s 2023 Whisky Calendar Here

This entry was posted in Whisky, Whisky Calendars, Independent Bottler, KWM Whisky Calendar 2023 UBER EDITION

 

 

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