Cragganmore 14 Years Old

This official Cragganmore, a 14 year old, at 40%, 13000 bottles in all. Cragganmore was built in 1869 beside the Strathspey Railway, a Speyside malt of real depth. Water comes from the Craggan Burn, off the slopes of Craggan More hill.

It was drawn off flat topped stills cooled by worm tubs, building the distinctive Cragganmore style. A Port pipe laid red fruit and a chocolate note over the complex malt. Integration folds eugenol (clove) and vanillin (vanilla) into the malt, the savoury body fuller and deeper. Worm tubs gave the new spirit its weight, the cask then drawing out fruit and depth. Years in oak round the spirit, the fruit deepening to dried fruit and a savoury spice. Worm tub condensers give the spirit a meaty weight, balanced by the reflux of the flat topped stills. A Port wood finish, the Distillers Edition style, adds plum and dark berry to the malt.

At an approachable 40% it is soft and easy. A rich, complex maltiness, with a clove and dried fruit spice from the cask. Dried fruit, malt and a herbal spice fill the middle. It finishes complex, malty and warm. This is the savoury, complex malt of Ballindalloch.