No doubt you've experienced that baffling feeling when everyone else is ecstatic over something that just doesn't float your boat. Are you simply missing something, otherwise why would so many people be obsessing over it? Reality television, golf, Twitter, yogurt, the NBA... I could go on, but odds are you disagree with me already. That's okay though, it keeps things interesting. With that in mind, allow me to submit for your consideration another touchstone of perplexing popularity - Cardhu (car-DOO, Scottish Gaelic for 'black rock').
We've talked about Diageo before, basically the Berkshire Hathaway of the liquor business. You may not know a lot about the corporation itself, but they own most of the labels in your bar. Their scotch portfolio is most impressive, not to mention their market share (30%), but upon doing research for this post, I came across a statistic that left me incredulous. Just as Diageo's largest shareholder is 'BlackRock Investment Management, Ltd.' (Coincidence? Of course.), the liquor giant's top selling single malt scotch whisky is... Cardhu 12?
Let me put that in perspective, these are the Diageo single malts Cardhu outsells: Auchroisk, Benrinnes, Blair Athol, Caol Ila, Clynelish, Cragganmore, Dailuaine, Dalwhinnie, Glen Elgin, Glenkinchie, Glenlossie, Glen Spey, Inchgower, Knockando, Lagavulin, Linkwood, Mannochmore, Mortlach, Oban, Royal Lochnagar, Singleton, Singleton of Dufftown, Singleton of Glendullan, Singleton of Glen Ord, Strathmill, Talisker, and Teaninich.
Now consider those sales figures only represent single malts, and so do not include the 70% of the Cardhu Distillery's production (2.3 million L pure alcohol per year) that ends up in a Johnnie Walker bottle. In 1893, Cardhu (then called 'Cardow') was purchased by Johnnie Walker himself (John Walker and Sons, Ltd.), and its wares have been a key component of his blended brands ever since.
Cardhu 12 apparently sells extremely well in Spain, Portugal, and Italy. Lighter whisky does tend to sell well in warmer climates, but this goes beyond that. Demand in Spain so outweighed supply, that in 2003 the distillers resorted to blending it with other single malts to stretch their existing inventory, then known as a 'vatted malt'. The problem came when they released the product as 'Cardhu Pure Malt Whisky', causing something of a kerfuffle within the scotch industry that continues to this day.
Amid the outrage, the UK Parliament and even Prime Minister Tony Blair were petitioned and became involved. Cardhu 'Pure Malt' was discontinued in 2005 and the single malt restored, even though it was said few people could actually tell the two whiskies apart. The Scotch Whisky Association eventually climbed into the ruckus, creating the moniker 'blended malt whisky' to describe the combination of single malts from multiple distilleries, and striking the terms 'pure malt' and 'vatted malt' from the official whisky lexicon; moves which ultimately created as many issues as they sought to resolve.
Honey sweetness was readily apparent on the palate. Decent backbone of malty, grainy, and grassy flavors, with a ribbon of peat smoke for balance. Thin in consistency, but silky smooth. A soft 40% ABV. I would go on, but that pretty much sums it up. Not much for complexity (even the website's own tasting notes agree with me on that), I suppose that's what makes it ideal for blending. The finish is all smoke and oak, more warming than drying. Quite nice actually, the finish was the highlight for me.
Overall, flavor was so light that for the first time, I found a caloric declaration listed: 222 cal/100mL. That works out to 98 calories per 1.5 oz. dram. Drink for drink on par with light beer. In fairness, I think most scotches in that 40-46 ABV% range are relatively diet-friendly in moderation, it's just the first time I had seen the numbers advertised like the grilled chicken salad at Chili's.
I waited until I had written my own tasting notes before reading any other online reviews of Cardhu 12, and it definitely seems my overall ho hum impression is firmly in the minority. Master of Malt in particular has pages of 5 star reviews from people going berserk over this stuff. I certainly didn't hate it, but rather just found it very...average. Boring, I'm afraid. Don't take my word for it though, it's gotta be Diageo's best seller for a reason.
Overall Grade: 79/100, C+
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