Craigellachie 12 Years Old 2009 Cask #900367 (Samaroli)

The bottler Samaroli bottled this Craigellachie, a 12 year old, distilled in 2009, from cask 900367, bottled at 43%, one of 489 bottles. Craigellachie, where the Fiddich meets the Spey, is the meaty backbone of the White Horse blend. Worm tubs give little copper contact, so the new spirit is robust and full, mellowing to tropical fruit with age.

It was run through the distillery's stills and old fashioned worm tubs, building the old fashioned Craigellachie style. Maturation came in ex-Bourbon wood, the oak quiet behind the heavy spirit. Through integration spirit and wood marry, vanillin settling into vanilla as ethyl esters lend a riper, tropical fruit over the meaty malt. Vanillin and oak lactones from the wood lend vanilla and coconut over the meaty malt. The robust make rewards long ageing, the meatiness giving way to tropical fruit.

At an approachable 43% it is soft and easy. Meaty malt, tropical fruit and a waxy oil, with a soft vanilla from the oak. Pineapple, malt and a savoury wax fill the middle. A robust, malty finish ends on tropical fruit and a warm spice. This is the muscular, meaty Speyside malt of Craigellachie.