G&M CRN57 The Cairn 70 Year

$10,800.00

This 70 year old "Blended Malt" is part of a range of whiskies released by Gordon & MacPhail to highlight what they are doing at The Cairn Distillery. The distillery's own whiskies won't be ready for some time, but in the interim they have created bottlings to show what the spirit might be like in 12, 18, 25, 30, 40, 57, and 70 years. The Cairn Distillery sits at 57 degrees north latitude-wise, hence the name CRN57 for these releases. 45% 92.5pts Whiskybase & 93pts Whisky Fun

Producer Description

"Welcome to the oldest blended Scotch whisky in the world! Picture the scene: the year is 2092 and The Cairn distillery has just released a 70 year old single malt. The CRN57° 70-year-old provides clove spice and orange blossom aromas, transitioning to exotic fruit and tobacco, with Seville orange peel and mint on the palate and finish.

"With our ‘70’, you can skip the wait and sample what may be the future flavours now, courtesy of this extraordinary blended malt Scotch whisky, presented in a timelessly elegant decanter. This release reflects both our history and our vision for the future."

700 ml

PRE-ORDER
This is not a guarantee of availability. You will not be charged until we can confirm we can get you a bottle(s). In the event we have more pre-orders than bottles we will draw names by ballot to allocate bottles for sale.

Region:Scotland > Speyside

Add To Favourites Print

Andrew's Tasting Note

Nose: old, exotic, and enticing, with loads of tropical fruit and honey; the tropical fruits are the most prominent feature here: mango and kiwi, as well as dried apricot and cantaloupe; waxy and floral with supple new leather; notes of vellichor and old newspapers; honeycomb and creme caramel.

Palate: gorgeous; soft, tropical, and honeyed with a fresh but anitque-y profile; surprisingly bright and tangy; more honeycomb, and creme caramel, but also tres leches; more vellichor and old newspapers, with fresh mint; mango, pineapple, and guava, as well as cantaloupe and dried apricot; soft new leather, decadent spices, and touch of vanilla bean.

Finish: long, very long.... coating, elegant, and tropical; warming decadent spices with fading honey and soft leather.

Comment: this reminds me a little of the G&M Generation Glenlivet 70 Year, which we released more than a decade ago; so fresh, fruity, and vibrant; more elegant, floral, and interesting than the 57, which was no slouch; I hope I am this fun and spritely in two decades time!

Producer Tasting Note

Nose: Cinnamon apple, clove spice and chocolate orange blossom.

Palate: Kumquat, aniseed and tobacco. Blackcurrant and black pepper.

Finish: Seville orange peel and mint.

93pts Whisky Fun

"Once again, for this one, I've been told Glen Grant is one of the components, but not too sure on the other part. I'd also add that doing a 70 year old blended malt is very, very cool, certainly better than tipping such stocks into a blend and selling it packaged inside a Tesla, or whatever… Colour: coppery gold. Nose: what I find immediately striking, is that this feels very much like it belongs to the 'pre-1950s' G&M style, which is to say old style American oak transport sherry casks, which give this profoundly beautiful mix of coconut, tropical fruit and myriad aromas of cedar wood, waxes, pollens and flower nectars to the aroma. It's a style that so many of G&M's bottlings from these batches have expressed over the years, at varying ages and strengths, and even now, at 70+years in these casks, the same profile is still so clear and so intense and so vital, which is really just incredible. This one is really all about stunning combinations of waxes, honeys, dried flowers, eucalyptus, dried exotic fruits and aged teas. You also wonder if there is peated malt, deep, deep down in the mix here, that has broken down over time to contribute to this stunningly subtle medicinal aspect to the profile. Overall, another of these hypnotic, extremely old malts that expresses a very typical profile from this era that is notably different to what came in the following decades. Mouth: an entire beehive! Incredibly honeyed and riddled with pollens, nectars, tiny notes of dried mushrooms, mint, tiger balms, medicinal herbs and pure beeswax. Obviously old, which seems silly to say, but it is 'old' in the best possible sense, there's no sense of aggression or lopsided dominance from the wood. The impressions is rather one of concentration and thickness in the mouth, syrupy and waxy-textured distillate with the sweetness and viscosity of honey, the tannin of earthy dark tea and the feeling of many and varied crystallised and preserved fruits, but particularly exotic ones. Really an experience that sits quite apart from most other 'old' malt whiskies I would say. For example, I'm not sure you'd be able to get a 70yo malt of this vibrancy, from the same cask type as the 57yo we just tried. Finish: wonderfully long, glowing with yet more honeys, waxes, preserved exotic fruits, teas, medicines and herbal touches. The aftertaste really just goes on and on. Comments: I find it extremely cool, and even rather touching, that they would create a 70 year old blended malt like this. Mind you, I'm not sure there are any other companies that even could, let alone would. Now, it's very expensive of course, and comes in a bottle you could club a Velociraptor to death with, but if we're talking expensive things to drink in terms of sheer quality, I'd swap you an entire container of Macallan 1926 for one bottle of this old beauty. SGP: 662 - 93 points."