Craigellachie 10 Years Old BSW (Battlehill Scotch Whisky Co.)

The bottler Battlehill Scotch Whisky Co bottled this Craigellachie, a 10 year old, bottled at 46%. Craigellachie is an old fashioned Speyside malt, full bodied and sulphurous in youth, tropical with age. It was rebuilt in 1965, but kept its worm tubs where most distilleries dropped them.

The spirit was run through the distillery's stills and old fashioned worm tubs, building the old fashioned Craigellachie style. A refill bourbon hogshead held it, keeping the meaty character to the fore. Through integration spirit and wood marry, vanillin settling into vanilla as ethyl esters lend a riper, tropical fruit over the meaty malt. The oily spirit shows the cask clearly, vanilla and tropical fruit over a meaty malt. It keeps its worm tub condensers, an old fashioned set up that builds a heavy, meaty, sulphurous spirit. With age the meaty young spirit turns to pineapple, mango and a waxy depth.

At 46% it is gentle, sweet and fruity. A heavy, oily maltiness, with a soft vanilla from the oak. The mouthfeel is heavy and oily, the fruit carried on a meaty body. Tropical fruit, malt and a savoury oak see out the finish. This is the muscular, meaty Speyside malt of Craigellachie.