Craigellachie 10 Years Old 2007 Distiller’s Art (Langside Distillers)

From the bottler Langside Distillers, a 10 year old Craigellachie, distilled in 2007, bottled at 52.1%, one of 252 bottles. Craigellachie is a robust, oily Speyside single malt made on worm tub condensers. It was rebuilt in 1965, but kept its worm tubs where most distilleries dropped them.

It was worked through stills and worm tubs for a muscular, oily spirit, for the muscular, meaty make Craigellachie is known for. Maturation in an Oloroso cask laid dried fruit over the meaty, oily malt. In integration lactones (coconut) and vanillin (vanilla) knit with the malt, the worm tub weight softening to tropical fruit. Long ageing turns the young, sulphurous spirit towards mango, wax and a warm spice. Years in oak round the spirit, the worm tub weight turning to pineapple and wax. With age the meaty young spirit turns to pineapple, mango and a waxy depth.

At 52.1%, undiluted, it is deep and fruity. Meaty malt, tropical fruit and a waxy oil, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. Soft tropical fruit and a waxy malt sit behind the cask. A long, oily finish carries a tropical depth. This is the worm tub malt of Craigellachie.