Craigellachie 19 Years Old 1995 Cask #HL 11792 (Edition Spirits)

From Edition Spirits, a 19 year old Craigellachie, distilled in 1995, from cask HL 11792, bottled at 54.6%, one of 543 bottles. Craigellachie is an old fashioned Speyside malt, full bodied and sulphurous in youth, tropical with age. 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, for the muscular, meaty make Craigellachie is known for. A Pedro Ximenez cask added raisin, date and a treacle sweetness. At oxidative maturity aldehydes and esters lend tropical fruit while ellagitannins add a drying, savoury grip. Worm tubs give little copper contact, so the new spirit is heavy and full, mellowing with time. A big sherry cask suits the muscular spirit, dried fruit meeting the meaty weight. It was rebuilt in 1965, but kept its worm tubs where most distilleries dropped them.

At 54.6%, undiluted, it is deep and fruity. Mango, wax and a meaty depth, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. The texture is full and oily, the fruit lifted by a meaty weight. It finishes robust, waxy and warm. This is one of Speyside's most robust single malts.