Here we are, folks, getting ready for another fine pairing of two single malts to see if we can peel apart those intricate layers that make up the unique profile of each whisky. Up for a tasting is the sixth dram from  Cask Explorer‘s Advent Calendar, Diamon Edition, and it’s a 22-year-old Scotch from a closed distillery which I have never tried before. So that’s already a bit exciting! When does one get to taste a bit of history? I really want to see how it compares to something I know pretty well, which is also somewhere within the same category, so I pull down the trustworthy 30-year-old Undisclosed whisky bottled by Berry Bros. & Rudd, which I’ve tried many times before. This way, I know exactly what I’m tasting. So let’s get to it, but first, we need music! Now Playing: Luke Vibert – Machine Funk.

Let’s cover the contender first. Caperdonich is not only a closed distillery but it’s completely demolished. So there’s no way that it will ever produce single malt again. It was located in Rothes, right across the street from Glen Grant, and was supposed to be, one day, an extension to its production. But the spirit was completely different, and as a result of a business decision, the then owner, Chivas Regal, decided to dispose of it and sell the facilities to Forsyth, the coppersmiths, which expanded its warehouses for manufacturing copper stills. So if you ever come across a bottle of Caperdonich, you will try something no longer around, made until 2002. My dram was bottled by Lady of the Glen in 1997, and it’s a 22-year-old single-cask liquid that spent its entire life in an ex-bourbon barrel. It’s uncoloured and non-chill filtered, and as a result, we’re getting an uncompromised whisky here, which gets my integrity star. It’s light gold in colour and is very fragrant and citrusy on the nose. There is a distinct scent of fresh green apple with a bit of distant caramel. It comes in sharp and clean on arrival and is actually a lot sweeter than I expected. It’s a very high cask-strength bottling of 60.5% ABV, so I added a bit of water. It has calmed down a bit, but it is still meaty, malty, and tangy-sweet. It definitely has an exotic signature, and I find myself gravitating back towards drinking it neat, even at this high alcohol content. I also like the fragrance on the nose, which is almost minty at times, reminding me of some pot-still Irish whiskies. Very nice development and a long and unique finish.

Let’s jump over to the 30-year-old Undisclosed whisky, which, from my previous excursions, I’ve placed somewhere around The Glenrothes distillery since Berry Bros. & Rudd acquired it in 2017. It’s an educated guess, but we’ll never know for sure. I have to admit, it’s a bit of a mediocre single malt, even though it was bottled in the 90s. This just tells you that not every 30-year-old whisky is going to be impressive, regardless of the price. In this case, it really feels like the wood was spent, and there was not much left for the spirit to extract here. The independent bottler most likely kept on giving it more years before they pulled the plug and decided to empty the cask because, at a certain point, it wasn’t going to get any better, and instead just started pulling out the wood. As is expected, this whisky is drier and woodsier relative to the Caperdonich [the latter was indeed a little “juicy”]. It has a very short and unimpressive finish that just falls off and becomes unmemorable. As with my previous tastings, this is a very much [and sadly] unremarkable dram that I just can’t seem to finish – *but* – it’s great to have around as a baseline for a simple Speyside single malt at higher strength and wiser years, as I can use it to bring out specific notes of what I’m pairing it against. That being said, I’ll also give it my integrity star because this 48.9% whisky is uncoloured and non-chill filtered.

Distillery / Region	Caperdonich / Speyside	Undisclosed / Speyside
Producer	Chivas Brothers	Unknown
Bottler	Lady of the Glen	Undisclosed
Stated Age / Vintage	22 years old / 1997	30 years old / 1990
Cask type	Ex-bourbon barrel	Unknown, but definitely a refill cask
ABV / Cask Strength	60.5% / Yes	48.9% / Yes
Non-chill filtered/ Uncoloured	Yes / Yes 🌟	Yes / Yes 🌟
Price	£350-400 (!)	£250
Did it win? / Did I like it?	Yes / Yes – very unique	No / No – it seems to be “just there”
Would I buy it? / Recommend it?	No – overpriced / No – only for explorers	No / No – can’t wait to finish it

So there you have it, folks. Another fantastic side-by-side tasting. Even though I’m not a fan of this Undisclosed 30-year-old, I will admit that it has served its purpose. I was originally going to try the Caperdonich next to another Glenrothes I have, but it’s an ex-sherried single malt, so it wouldn’t really go. I then thought that I’d try it alongside The Balvenie, but the oldest cask strength I have is only 12 years old, so I don’t think it would be fair, either. In this case, it has worked, and I am happy with the pairing. I probably would not be seeking this one out, but still, I will proclaim the Caperdonich 22-year-old as the winner of this round.