Craigellachie 10 Years Old 2013 Cask #305656 (BB&R)

A Craigellachie of a 10 year old chosen by the London merchant Berry Bros and Rudd, distilled in 2013, from cask 305656, bottled at 58.1%, one of 60 bottles. Craigellachie is an old fashioned Speyside malt, full bodied and sulphurous in youth, tropical with age. Worm tubs give little copper contact, so the new spirit is robust and full, mellowing to tropical fruit with age.

The spirit was worked through stills and worm tubs for a muscular, oily spirit, building the old fashioned Craigellachie style. First fill bourbon gave a fuller vanilla and pineapple over the robust spirit. Integration folds eugenol (clove) and vanillin (vanilla) into the malt, the robust body turning fruitier. The robust make rewards long ageing, the meatiness giving way to tropical fruit. It keeps its worm tub condensers, an old fashioned set up that builds a heavy, meaty, sulphurous spirit.

At a hearty 58.1% it carries real weight. Mango, wax and a meaty depth, with a soft vanilla from the oak. The texture is full and oily, the fruit lifted by a meaty weight. The finish runs meaty, waxy and warm. This is Craigellachie, the meaty heart of White Horse.