Cragganmore 30 Years Old 1989 Cask #DL 14121 (XOP)

This Cragganmore was bottled by the Glasgow bottler Douglas Laing, a 30 year old, distilled in 1989, from cask DL 14121, bottled at 52.1%, one of 248 bottles. Cragganmore is a Diageo Speyside distillery whose flat topped stills give a famously complex spirit. The distillery sits at Ballindalloch on the River Spey, in the heart of Speyside.

It was distilled in flat topped stills with worm tub condensers on Craggan Burn water, for the complex, fragrant make Cragganmore is known for. Ex-Bourbon casks held it, the gentle oak letting the fragrant, meaty spirit lead. Ethereal and old, decades draw the malt to a complex, waxy depth of sotolon, old oak and dried fruit. Refill oak lets the complex Cragganmore character lead, malt and dried fruit beneath. The meaty, fragrant make rewards a long, patient maturation. Most Cragganmore goes quietly into blends like Old Parr, a little kept as single malt.

At its natural 52.1% it is concentrated. Orchard fruit, malt and a warm spice, with a soft vanilla from the oak. The mouthfeel is full, the fruit carried on a meaty, malty body. The close is long, fruit over a complex malt. This is a fragrant Speyside single malt of real depth.