I think the name is amazing! You could see this on stage: “Presenting for your entertainment: Motley Crue, Spinal Tap and Amber Rock!”
Cardhu means “black rock” in Gaellic, but instead of just putting that on the bottle they wanted a reference to the beautiful colour of their whisky. Also “Black Rock” sounds like a very heavy, strong, smoky, earthly, peated beast of a whisky and it is not like that at all. It is more like a fine, light, balanced butterfly of a whisky.
It is double matured on toasted oak barrels seasoned with bourbon which delivers a smoothness and roundness to an already balanced Cardhu. The Amber Rock tastes quite different – to my personal taste – than his other Cardhu brothers. There’s more fruity freshness opposed to the sweeter Cardhus.
It is a good beginner’s whisky from a very fine distillery ( bought by Johnny Walker in the 19th century), so if you’re quite new to whisky be sure to give it a try.
Amber Rock Tracklist:
Track 1: Smash! (it performed quite well in a whisky smash, the mint combined well with the vanilla notes)
Track 2: Sour! (An okay whisky sour)
Track 3: The Long Way To Manhattan (I would not recommend it)
Track 4: Old Fashioned Romance (Not too bad)
Conclusion: It’s Cardhu, I like it, but I hoped it “Rocked” a little more.
The Cocktail Nation 