Craigellchie

Region: Speyside (Speyside-Glenlivet)

Owner: John Dewar & Sons (Bacardi)

Founded: 1891

The fact that many whisky drinkers forget is that single malt whisky was never designed, if designed is the correct word, to be drunk on its own. The whole point of a distillery was to supply the owners blend with the raw ingredients to make up the blend’s recipe. Craigellachie is very much a case in point.

It was designed to produce a ‘characterful’ spirit, with the help of traditional worm tub condensers, which when straight off the still is quite sulphury. This congener heavy new make spirit has quite an oily texture and subsequently needs plenty of time in the oak to remove the overt sulphur character and develop the almost exotic fruit notes which characterise older bottling of Craigellachie.

In 2014, the owners finally decided to do something other than use the spirit for blending and released a number of different age statement, which now allows the single malt whisky drinker to appreciate how this interesting, characterful spirit matures.

I love the uncluttered mineral freshness and latent honeyed character of the 13 year old, but it really all comes together by the time the spirit has reached 15. During its late teens it sort of becomes a little stroppy and moody, but it finally shakes off this cloak to show a beautiful exotic and succulent fruit laden whisky by the time it gets to its mid-twenties/ thirties. All in all, Craigellachie could be seen as a metaphor for life!

Independent releases are pretty common, but care has to be taken, when picking up a sub 10 year old bottling, as the spirit can still be a little rough and sulphury, so you would probably best stick to an early to mid-teens bottling. Given that the availability of casks is good, and the prices are still fair, you shouldn’t have to pay too much for a good quality bottling with some age.

(Image Copyright James Mortimer Photography)