Craigellachie 10 Years Old 2007 Cask #Batch 10.0707.5 (Mossburn – Distillers & Blenders)

A 10 year old Craigellachie from the bottler Mossburn - Distillers & Blenders, distilled in 2007, from cask Batch 10.0707.5, bottled at 46%. Craigellachie sits above Telford's famous Spey bridge, a Speyside distillery of real muscle. Bacardi's John Dewar and Sons bought it in 1998, alongside Aberfeldy, Aultmore and Royal Brackla.

The spirit was run through the distillery's stills and old fashioned worm tubs, for the muscular, meaty make Craigellachie is known for. It rested in ex-Bourbon oak, the wood adding vanilla and a waxy tropical fruit. In integration lactones (coconut) and vanillin (vanilla) knit with the malt, the worm tub weight softening to tropical fruit. Most Craigellachie goes quietly into blends, a robust filler kept in part as single malt. The robust make rewards long ageing, the meatiness giving way to tropical fruit. It was rebuilt in 1965, but kept its worm tubs where most distilleries dropped them.

At 46% it is gentle, sweet and fruity. Malt, dried fruit and a savoury oil, with a soft vanilla from the oak. A baked fruit and a warm spice lift it. Tropical fruit, malt and a savoury oak see out the finish. This is the muscular, meaty Speyside malt of Craigellachie.