Craigellachie 19 Years Old 1983 Cask #2576 (Samaroli)

The bottler Samaroli bottled this Craigellachie, a 19 year old, distilled in 1983, from cask 2576, bottled at 54%, one of 276 bottles. Craigellachie is a robust, oily Speyside single malt made on worm tub condensers. Worm tubs give little copper contact, so the new spirit is robust and full, mellowing to tropical fruit with age.

It was drawn off pot stills cooled by traditional worm tubs, building the old fashioned Craigellachie style. Maturation came in ex-Bourbon wood, the oak quiet behind the heavy spirit. At oxidative maturity aldehydes and esters lend tropical fruit while ellagitannins add a drying, savoury grip. Most Craigellachie goes quietly into blends, a robust filler kept in part as single malt. The oily spirit shows the cask clearly, vanilla and tropical fruit over a meaty malt. The official range runs a thirteen, seventeen and twenty three year old, with rare older bottlings.

Bottled at a cask strength 54%, it is rich. Malt, dried fruit and a savoury oil, with a soft vanilla from the oak. Soft tropical fruit and a waxy malt sit behind the cask. The finish runs meaty, waxy and warm. This is one of Speyside's most robust single malts.