Craigellachie 10 Years Old 2012 Cask #2340 (Alistair Walker Whisky Company)

From the bottler Alistair Walker Whisky Company, a 10 year old Craigellachie, distilled in 2012, from cask 2340, bottled at 61.1%, one of 300 bottles. Craigellachie, where the Fiddich meets the Spey, is the meaty backbone of the White Horse blend. It was launched as a single malt brand in 2014, with a bare knuckle, old fashioned image.

Made in copper stills whose worm tubs build a robust make, building the old fashioned Craigellachie style. An ex-Bourbon barrel shaped it, vanilla and pineapple beneath the muscular malt. Integration folds eugenol (clove) and vanillin (vanilla) into the malt, the robust body turning fruitier. The oily spirit shows the cask clearly, vanilla and tropical fruit over a meaty malt. The official range runs a thirteen, seventeen and twenty three year old, with rare older bottlings. Most Craigellachie goes quietly into blends, a robust filler kept in part as single malt.

At a hearty 61.1% it carries real weight. A robust, oily fruitiness, with a soft vanilla from the oak. A dried fruit and a savoury, oily depth give it weight. A robust, malty finish ends on tropical fruit and a warm spice. This is an oily, tropical Speyside single malt.