Craigellachie 7 Years Old 2008 Cask #759588 (Duncan Taylor)

A Craigellachie of a 7 year old chosen by the Huntly bottler Duncan Taylor, distilled in 2008, from cask 759588, bottled at 52.1%, one of 116 bottles. Craigellachie, where the Fiddich meets the Spey, is the meaty backbone of the White Horse blend. The official range runs a thirteen, seventeen and twenty three year old, with rare older bottlings.

It was distilled for the heavy, meaty spirit Craigellachie is known for, giving the heavy, oily spirit at its heart. Maturation came in ex-Bourbon wood, the oak quiet behind the heavy spirit. In these extractive early years the oak gives vanillin as vanilla and oak lactones as coconut over a robust, sulphurous malt. Worm tubs give little copper contact, so the new spirit is heavy and full, mellowing with time. The distillery was founded in 1891 by a group led by Peter Mackie, the man behind the White Horse blend. The heavy, oily make is prized by blenders for the backbone it gives White Horse.

At a natural 52.1% it is full and honeyed. A heavy, oily maltiness, with a soft vanilla from the oak. A baked fruit and a warm spice lift it. It finishes robust, waxy and warm. This is Craigellachie's robust, oily Speyside style.