Cragganmore Batch 1 (TBWC)

A Cragganmore of a 26 year old chosen by the bottler That Boutique-y Whisky Company, bottled at 50.2%, one of 130 bottles. Cragganmore is the complex, savoury Speyside malt of the Classic Malts range. The distillery sits at Ballindalloch on the River Spey, in the heart of Speyside.

It was run through the distillery's unusual flat topped wide neck stills, for the complex, fragrant make Cragganmore is known for. Maturation came in ex-Bourbon wood, the oak quiet behind the complex spirit. At this evaporative stage ellagitannins lend a drying structure while oxidation builds a richer, meatier fruit. Cragganmore is reckoned among the most complex of all the Speyside malts. Most Cragganmore goes quietly into blends like Old Parr, a little kept as single malt. Years in oak round the spirit, the fruit deepening to dried fruit and a savoury spice. John Smith reputedly weighed over twenty stone and could not use the railway he loved, too large for the carriages.

At its natural 50.2% it is concentrated. A complex, malty fruitiness, with a soft vanilla from the oak. Soft orchard fruit and a savoury malt sit behind the cask. The finish is deep, fragrant and savoury. This is a fragrant Speyside single malt of real depth.