Craigellachie 10 Years Old AtB Darkness (Atom Brands) (63.3%)

This Craigellachie was bottled by the bottler Atom Brands, a 10 year old, bottled at 63.3%. Craigellachie was built in 1891 and is one of the few distilleries still using worm tubs. Water comes from a local spring in the Blue Hill area above the village.

Drawn off pot stills cooled by traditional worm tubs, giving the heavy, oily spirit at its heart. A Pedro Ximenez cask added raisin, date and a treacle sweetness. By the integrating teens the sulphur fades and esters build, pineapple and wax growing over the oily spirit. Most Craigellachie goes quietly into blends, a robust filler kept in part as single malt. The heavy, oily make is prized by blenders for the backbone it gives White Horse. The robust make rewards long ageing, the meatiness giving way to tropical fruit. Vanillin and oak lactones from the wood lend vanilla and coconut over the meaty malt.

Bottled at a cask strength 63.3%, it is rich. Meaty malt, tropical fruit and a waxy oil, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. A dried fruit and a savoury, oily depth give it weight. The finish runs meaty, waxy and warm. This is the worm tub malt of Craigellachie.