A mate texts from the bottle shop: the Glencadam 15 is in again, is it worth it. It had gone quiet for a couple of years while the distillery waited on stock the right age. Now it's back, and the honest answer runs a little sideways.
Here it is up front. For a Glencadam 15 drinker, the Glengoyne 12 lands at about 94% of what their own bottle gives them, and it does it for 64% of the price. Same person, same tastes, most of the pleasure, well under the outlay.
First, the bottle itself. The nose is delicate and floral, with cereal, cooking apples and a flick of white pepper. The palate leads with honey, then vanilla, more of that cereal, roasted chestnuts and nutmeg. It finishes medium-length on oak and ginger. Gentle, autumnal, easy to sit with.
Now the stand-ins, each measured against the Glencadam for the person who already drinks it.
Glengoyne 12, $89 for members. A clean, malty core that opens fragrant and fruity with a splash of water — cherry pits, apples, a hint of anise and almond. For a Glencadam 15 drinker it gives about 94% of what the Glencadam does.
Deanston 12, $97 for members, though it usually sells around $112. Orange marmalade and shortbread dipped in honey up top, then salted caramel, milk chocolate and fudge. For a Glencadam 15 drinker it gives about 93%.
Dalwhinnie 15, $95. A deep honeyed sweetness, caramelised fruits and thick cream, with fennel and a sharp citrus edge; the beauty is in that chunky middle. For a Glencadam 15 drinker it gives about 92%.
What to pay. Glencadam 15 is $140 for members this week. It usually sells around $140, and we've seen it as high as $160, so this week sits at the low end of its own range. That works out at about $5.51 a standard drink, a touch under what the same pour costs you as a pint at the pub.
What its neighbours' drinkers would pay is the interesting part. Ask the people who drink the bottles closest to it — each starting from what they happily pay for their own — and the figures for the Glencadam run from $86 to $148. At $140 for members it sits inside that spread. Turn it around and the picture holds: the Glencadam drinker gets most of the Glengoyne's charm for 64% of the money, while the drinkers nearest the Glencadam put it at close to a full bottle's worth. Every one of them who shares its flavours lands at nine-tenths or more of their own.
So, who's it for. If the Glencadam 15 is your bottle, it's back, and this week it's at its usual $140 — no reason to hesitate. If you lean cask-strength and like a dram that opens up with water, the Glengoyne 12 is the obvious swap and keeps the most in your pocket. If you want marmalade, caramel and chocolate, the Deanston 12 is waiting. And if it's that soft, honeyed middle you're after, the Dalwhinnie 15 has it in spades. Four ways to a good night, and not a wrong turn among them.
None recorded.
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