Review of Cadée Distillery: Deceptivus, Medusa, and Cascadia!
First off, we have to give a huge thank you to Cyrus (@the_single_malt_diaries) of Cadée Distillery for reaching out and providing us these #americanmaritimewhiskey expressions to review!
Here are some fun facts about Cadée Distillery:
· Created by Colin Campbell in 2013.
· Cadée translates into meaning “pure and clean” in Galic.
· They age and barrel their spirits on the Isle of Whidbey.
· They use hand selected 53 and 55 gallon barrels.
· The Isle of Whidbey has a climate which produces unique and salty coastal minerals.
· The water that they use is drawn through century old peat bogs!
· The Isle of Whidbey is also known for its unique maritime barometic pressure created by two huge mountain ranges - the Cascades and Olympics -squeezing our barrels and extracting significant color and flavors from the barrel. This is the claim to #americanmaritimewhiskey!
To learn more about them, be sure to visit their Instagram page @cadeedistillery or visit their website at cadeedistillery.com!
Now for the fun part: WHISKEY!!!
I will preface this review and say these were some fun and interesting whiskeys. I do think these whiskeys are influenced by where they are being aged. I am excited to see what Cadée Distillery brings in the future! We rated these 1-10 (1 being bad and 10 being fantastic).
Deceptivus-42.5% ABV, finished in Portuguese Port Barrels-(6.9): It was agreed by everyone that it was overall easy to drink, but left us wanting a little more. It was evident that it was finished in some type of barrel.
Joshua:
Nose- Toffee and brown sugar with a slight ethanol burn. This was prevalent that it was finished in something.
Palate- The initial taste brought sweet port that was accompanied by chocolate fudge with nuts.
Finish- It finished being short to medium with no burn and was accompanied by an oily coconut flavor. Pleasant for sure.
Dustin:
The nose was very light, not much else.
Palate- Pleasant and tasted like salt water taffy.
Finish- Gentle finish with fading toffee and a touch more of salt.
Mike:
Nose- A sweet sticky sugary smell.
Palate- light on the palate with predominantly sweet sugar. Also got praline, pecan, and butter.
Finish- sweet and quickly fades into pecan then disappears.
Cascadia-43.5% ABV, finished in Portuguese Port Barrels-(7.4): This was everyone’s "favorite", tasted of a traditional rye with a slight barrel finish.
Joshua (I really enjoyed this one):
Nose- Earthy with mint and bubblegum. Traditional rye nose!
Palate- Green apples with mint and white pepper. Not overly spicy and very pleasant.
Finish- Slight and pleasant burn with a touch of oak!
Dustin:
The nose was light with faint oak.
Palate: Green apples and Eucalyptus.
Finish: Pleasant burn with fading oak.
Mike:
Nose- very light with hints of hay, grass, spearmint and ethanol.
Palate- sweet mint with hay and a bit of spice.
Finish- Black pepper that disappears quickly.
Medusa- 40% ABV, finished in Madeira Barrels-(7.1): We all agreed that if you like Madeira, you will like this expression! Also would be a great dessert drink.
Joshua:
Nose- Sweet chocolate, wine, and barrel tannins! The Madeira barrel is very prevalent.
Palate- Oily with chocolate, sherry, fig, and port. I wish this was 95-100 proof!
Finish- very short with bitter oak and wine tannins.
Dustin:
Nose- A toffee sweetness.
Palate- Slight peat moss.
Finish- Spicy and smooth.
Mike:
Was not his cup of tea due to the Madeira finish. He did agree that if he liked Madeira, it would be a good pour.
Overall, we were very grateful to taste these expressions. The general consensus was that you could taste the finish and process on all of these whiskeys (some more than others) and that we would like to see them in a higher proof to enhance the flavors and finish on them! In the end, they are worth picking up and giving them a try to experience #americanmaritimewhiskey!