Cragganmore 27 Years Old 1993 Cask #4220849 (Duncan Taylor)

From the Huntly bottler Duncan Taylor, a 27 year old Cragganmore, distilled in 1993, from cask 4220849, bottled at 54.4%, one of 82 bottles. Cragganmore is a Diageo Speyside distillery whose flat topped stills give a famously complex spirit. It was the first distillery deliberately sited beside a railway, the Strathspey line carrying its whisky out.

Worked through flat topped stills and worm tubs for a meaty, fragrant spirit, giving the meaty, malty spirit at its heart. A Pedro Ximenez cask added raisin, date and a treacle sweetness. Oxidative, evaporative ageing turns the malt deep and complex, ethereal esters and a faint sotolon (maple). Long ageing turns the fresh fruit towards dried fruit, fig, leather and a warm spice. The slow loss of the angel's share concentrates the fragrant, savoury core over the years. The flat topped stills build a complexity that long maturation only deepens.

At a hearty 54.4% it carries real weight. A rich, complex maltiness, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. The texture is full and complex, the fruit lifted by a meaty malt. The finish is long, complex and savoury. This is the complex Speyside Classic Malt of Cragganmore.