Caperdonich was originally built by Major Grant in 1898.
It came into existence due to increasing demand, however its early
production life was short lived because in 1902 Caperdonich was shut down.
Much of the equipment was transferred to Glen Grant as spares. I have read that the stills at Caperdonich were the same as those at Glen Grant, as was the water source and the supplier of malt yet Caperdonich never attained the quality of Glen Grant. The collapse of the firm of Pattisons of Leith contributed to a general slow down in the industry and during this period the number of operating distilleries in Scotland fell from a high of 191 to a low of 132 in 1908.

In 1965, after a very lengthy silent period of nearly 65 years, Caperdonich was rebuilt by the Glenlivet & Glen Grant Distillers Ltd and was soon producing whisky once again and in its first year produced 350,000 gallons of spirit. This reopening coincided with a general expansion of capacity in the industry. Soon after, in 1967, the distillery was expanded by the installation of two new steam heated pot stills, a modern tun room and the latest technology which allowed the distillery to be operated by a staff of only two. About a third of the malt required by produced at Glen Grant and the remainder was brought in thus no barley or peat was on site. In 1977 the distillery was taken over by Seagram's of Canada Limited. In its short operating life Caperdonich never developed the reputation as a quality malt and was destined to be hidden away in the various blends of Chivas Regal, Queen Anne, Something Special and Passport.

Caperdonich was never bottled as a single malt and it was only offered to the market by the independents of Gordon & MacPhail, the Scotch Malt Whisky Society and Cadenheads. Through my research into the history of Caperdonich I read again and again of unflattering descriptions of the whisky but I firmly believe that any Scottish distillery is or was capable of producing whiskies that would score over 90 points. In the case of Caperdonich this is evidenced by 3 casks as reviewed by Jim Murray in his 2006 Whisky Bible; Members Legacy 1967 Aged 36 years cask no. 4945 95 points, Members Legacy 1967 Aged 36 years cask no. 4947 96 points and Douglas Laing Platinum Old and Rare Caperdonich Aged 36 years 96 points. To quote the author in regard to the Platinum Old and Rare Caperdonich…… "Awesome. So there we have it. A distillery that can't live day to day because its general spirit is so average can, in the right conditions, offer one of the greatest whisky experiences on Earth. Such is the beauty and tragedy of whisky."

Lawrence
 
Sources: The Scottish Whisky Distilleries by Misako Udo, The Scotch Whisky Industry Record by H Charles Craig, The Making of Scotch Whisky by Hume & Moss and Jim Murray's Whisky Bible 2000.

Caperdonich distillery started its life as 'Glen Grant #2'.
This Speyside distillery was built in 1898 by J. & J. Grant, the
people that also built the 'original' Glen Grant distillery in
1840; conveniently located just accross the street in Rothes.
Other neigbours include Glenrothes and Glen Spey.
 
Both 'sister' distilleries are located at the northern end of
Moraytown Village in Rothes, but only one of them operated
continuously until the present day. Glen Grant #2 closed its
doors again after just four years in 1902 due to the after
effects of the Pattison Crisis that shook up the whisky world
around the turn of the century.
 
Glen Grant No. 2 remained inactive for six decades, but in
the year 1965 it was rebuilt by Glenlivet Distilleries Ltd. who
resumed production and changed the name to Caperdonich.
In 1967 the number of stills was expanded from two to four.

The change of the name to Caperdonich ("Secret Well") wasn't entirely voluntary.
A new British law prohibited the use of the same name for different distilleries that were operational at the same time, so the owners had to find an alternative for 'Glen Grant #2'. The water source for both distilleries is Caperdonich Burn. Seagram acquired Caperdonich in 1977 and sold it to Pernod Ricard in 2001. Pernod Ricard closed the distillery in 2002, together with its 'sister' distilleries Alt A' Bhainne, Braeval (Braes of Glenlivet) and Benriach.

When I write the latest update of this profile (the Autumn
of 2008), Caperdonich is the only distillery from this group
that hasn't been re-opened yet.
 
When Capedonich was renovated by Glenlivet Distillers in
1967, two additional steam heated pot stills were added
to the original two. Advancements in technology and a
modern tun room enabled the entire distillery to be run
by just one or two people. There are no official bottlings
of Capedonich and the independent bottlings (by bottlers
like Douglas Laing and Gordon & MacPhail are hard to find.

For some more information & another perspective on he Caperdonich Distillery, check out the Malt Maniacs distillery profile that Lawrence Graham wrote for our E-zine;
 
The name Caperdonich (Capper-don-ick or kapperDOHnich) means 'the secret well' and this distillery is most commonly known as Glen Grant Number 2 (until 1965) and Customs & Excise insisted that the make be piped over the road to Glen Grant Number 1 which was located directly across the street. This pipe became famous as the 'whisky pipe' and the locals were not adverse to drilling holes in the pipe to liberate some spirit.

1) Caperdonich is a key component in the Chivas Regal Blend.

2) Caperdonich produced 350,000 gallons of spirit in its first year after reopening.

3) The famous 'whisky pipe' which was placed above the street to carry spirit between Caperdonich and Glen Grant was responsible for an odd variety of 'the angels share'. Locals took adavantage of the easy access to this famous pipe, drilled holes in it and took spirit for their own. 
 

Caperdonich 16yo 1972/1988 (40%, Signatory Vintage, C#7130-7132)
Nose: Wow!!! Lots of organics, beautifully combined with sherry. Then fruits. Unoffensive perfume.
Taste: Hmmmm... Not bad, but a little watery. Smoke, growing stronger. Something perfumy too.
Score: 88 points - proof that obscure distilleries can deliver.

Caperdonich 1980/1998 (40%, G&M Connoisseur's Choice, 70cl)
Nose: Light, fruity & smooth. Early fruits (Apple?) evolving into older fruits. Faint hint of peat and smoke.
Taste: Quite rough on the tongue at first. Wood. The finish develops into a long sweety/salty burn.
Score: 75 points - the style of the bottler is more apparent than the style of the distillery.

Caperdonich 1968 (40%, G&M Connoisseurs Choice, Old Brown Label)
Nose: Maybe peanut. Growing complexity, but it doesn't really pick a specific direction. Marzipan.
Mocca. Mushroomy. Very pleasant in the nose, but last time I tried it the palate didn't back it up.
Palate: Old and tired on the palate. Sweet, but nothing else. Feels rather weak at 40%.
Score: 78 points - earned almost exclusively by the nose.

Caperdonich 24yo 1977/2002 (57.3%, Cadenhead's Authentic, 666 Bottles)
Nose: Very sherried. Rich and round. Lots of character with spicy episodes.
Taste: fruity and chewy; big with a hint of smoke.
Score: 86 points - proves my suspicions that this stands age just as well as Glen Grant.

Caperdonich 30yo 1972/2003 (50.1%, Hart Brothers Finest Collection, 11/72, 05/03)
Nose: Quite unique with wassabi and vinegar. Next, organics join the party - and more wassabi.
Then soy sauce - Kikkoman? Later on I got lemon as well, before it sweetens out. Nice! With a palate to match the nose it might have made the 90's, but to me it didn't entirely live up to my expectations.
Taste: It started off quite dry, grew sweeter in the centre and then turned a little bit dry again in the finish.
Score: 88 points - and Davin liked it even better and put it at 90 points exactly. A very fine dram indeed.

Caperdonich 36yo 1967/2004 (57,9%, Douglas Laing Platinum, 167 Bottles)
The proof seems unusually high for a bottle this old - or for a Douglas Laing 'Platinum' for that matter.
Nose: Very rich and sherried at first, settling down after a few seconds. Very nice but not terribly complex.
Adding water didn't seem to work very well, but after a minute the original profile returned - but nothing more.
Taste: Fruity start, followed by a fairly mellow centre. Berries. Growing tannins (grape skins) in the finish.
Just like the nose, it doesn't seem terribly complex - and maybe just a tad too bitter in the end for me.
Score: 86 points - I had it in the very upper 80's for a while, but after a while it starts to fall apart.
After approximately five minutes the harsh woody notes had taken over the palate completely.

Caperdonich 38yo 1968/2007 (54.2%, Duncan Taylor for The Nectar, cask #2609, 130 bottles)
Nose: Nondescript. Glue. Then tropical fruits (pineapple, passion fruit) which for me usually indicates old age.
Taste: Faintly swee, exploding into complexity - although I still found a hint of perfume in the finish.
Score: 88 points - one of a few dozen 'high flyers' in the Malt Maniacs Awards 2007.

...

These were not all the (official and independent) expressions of Caperdonich whisky I've tried over the years.
My Track Record used to contain a complete overview of all the single malts I've tried, but when I passed the 2000 malts mark (and the complete whisky list wouldn't fit on two separate HTML pages anymore) I gave up. My Liquid Log still contains my tasting notes on most single malts I've sampled and scored, though. You can find a specific expression through the search box at the top of each distillery profile. The mAlmanac now contains (purely personal) selections of some of the best single malts and the worst whiskies I've tried so far - as well as the ones with the highest 'Bang-For-Your-Buck' value. But those tasting notes and scores only reflect my own, purely personal opinions. On Serge's distillery profile on Whiskyfun you can find another perspective on the whisky made at this distillery. Check out the Malt Maniacs Monitor on Malt Maniacs for my scores on all expressions I've tried so far - and those of almost all the other certified malt maniacs as well. The Malt Maniacs Matrix contains a few thousand single malts that were sampled and scored by at least four different malt maniacs, so you can compare our individual opinions.