Cadenhead’s Glen Ord 12 Year Old
If you were asked to name the largest malt whisky distilleries in Scotland (in terms of distilling capacity), you could probably guess a few of the top five or six correctly. Glenfiddich? Yep. Macallan? Yes, especially with their massive new distillery that just opened. Glenlivet is close to the top, too (sixth). But a few of the others in the top five are not quite as familiar names, especially to those of us here in the US. Roseisle, Ailsa Bay, and Glen Ord, the subject of this review, round out the top five—not exactly household whisky names, except amongst the geekiest of whisky geeks.
With a huge annual distilling capacity of 11 million liters of alcohol, Glen Ord is something of an invisible giant. Available as a single malt whisky in Diageo’s Singleton range in some parts of the world (Asia, I believe, and perhaps elsewhere), official bottles of Glen Ord are a rare sight in the US. Independent bottles are also fairly scarce. So with such a huge distilling capacity, where does all that whisky go? Blends, of course. Diageo (the distillery’s owner) uses Glen Ord as a component in numerous blended whiskies, such as Johnny Walker.
Hopefully one of these days, Diageo will reintroduce Glen Ord under its own label, but until then, the only way I’ve been able to try this Highland whisky is via indie bottles. Actually, make that singular—indie bottle. This bottle of Glen Ord from Cadenhead’s is the only bottle of Glen Ord I’ve personally been able to find or try.
Cadenhead’s is the oldest independent bottler of scotch whisky and also one of the most highly respected. They have a reputation for releasing quality bottlings. Although their bottles may be easy to find for some, I rarely see them here in Tennessee, so when I found a few bottles for sale in a local store and one of them happened to be a Glen Ord, I was sure to bring one home with me.
This particular single cask bottle (which is one of only 276) was distilled in 2005, aged in an ex-bourbon hogshead, and bottled in 2017 at cask strength.
Cadenhead’s Glen Ord 12 Review
Type: Single Malt Scotch
Region: Highlands
Age: 12 years
ABV: 55.6%
Non chill-filtered
Natural color
Nose
Orchard fruits and citrus. Loads of waxy apples and pears. Fruity candy. Gummy worms. Fresh mint leaves. Sweet pipe tobacco.
Palate
Like the nose, quite waxy. Peaches and cream. Watermelon candy. Mint. Very light and very soft caramel… caramel flan, perhaps. Plenty of vanilla. Malty, with a touch of dark chocolate. Chocolate covered coffee beans. Floral elements develop on the mid-palate, followed by sweet and spicy cinnamon on the backend. The mouthfeel is full, creamy, waxy, and wonderful.
Finish
Fresh and long. Mint flavored gum, spearmint in particular. Light cinnamon. Andes chocolate mint. A bit fruity, with a good amount of apple. A touch of vanilla cream.
Overall
I had little idea what to expect with this malt, seeing as it’s my first Glen Ord. I was very pleasantly surprised. Fresh, fruity, and waxy, with a lovely bit of soft caramel and vanilla, this is a well-balanced malt with wonderful texture and plenty of character. No real weak spots to be found here, as it delivers from nose to finish. An excellent dram to enjoy on a summer evening. Or any other time.
When one thinks of waxy whisky, one often thinks of Clynelish. The waxiness here in this Ord might be more prominent (and delightful) than any Clynelish I’ve tried, although a bit different in character. There are some similarities, but Ord—at least this Ord—is lighter and fresher than your typical Clynelish single malt (which isn’t necessarily better, just different). If you’re a fan of Clynelish, I would recommend giving Glen Ord a try, if you can find any.
SCORE: 87/100
Final Thoughts
Since this is one of only 276 bottles, it’s unlikely that you’ll find this exact whisky. So why bother reviewing something that few, if any, of my readers will ever see or try? Well, although you may not find this particular Glen Ord, you might find a different independent bottle of the distillery’s whisky. Perhaps this review will give you some idea of what you might expect (although different casks from the same distillery can produce very different results).
But the real reason why I like to review indie bottles is simply because I love indie bottles—especially when they are single cask bottlings (as they often are). In my opinion, single cask bottlings are just about the best thing going in the whisky world right now (more on that in a future post). When I first started posting whisky reviews, I had intended to do a lot of indie bottle reviews. I kinda got away from that a bit, as I’ve been trying to review bottles that more people are likely able to purchase, but I’m planning a series of indie reviews in the near future, so stay tuned.
Buy Again? Yes. This is a delightful whisky.
Drink This Not That: Drink this, if you can find it. Unfortunately you probably can’t (although if you happen to be in Nashville, TN, I could tell you where you can still find a bottle). This is the only Glen Ord I’ve ever tried, so I don’t really know if this is truly representative of the distillery’s character or not, but if you find a different independent bottle of Ord, I recommend giving it a try.
Questions about my scoring system? Refer to the Review Method & Scoring Scale page.
For more reviews, check out the Whisky Review Archive.
