Cardhu Hand Filled 002/2023, 11 year old.

Cardhu, the distillery associated with Johnnie Walker, is a well-known single malt. I typically rank it in the third tier of single malt distilleries, as I've never experienced a whisky from them that truly amazed me. That said, I visited their facility again this year during my trip to Scotland and sampled this year's (2023) hand-filled bottling, drawn from cask 002/2023, an 11-year-old dram. On the nose, there are green apples, cream, and hazelnuts mingled with chocolate. A prominent green apple aroma. On the palate, there's a pleasant milk chocolate flavor, with spicy red chili. It also has a lemon and citrus profile. The aftertaste consists entirely of sawdust. Very straightforward and somewhat uninspiring. Overall, there's not much more to add. It's a very simple Speyside whisky with some fruity notes and an underwhelming finish. It could be improved, especially considering it's a £120 bottle, meant to be a special edition. My rating is 78 out of 100.