Craigellachie 11 Years Old 1998 Cask #58 + 59 (Signatory)

This Craigellachie was bottled by the Pitlochry bottler Signatory Vintage, an 11 year old, distilled in 1998, from cask 58 + 59, bottled at 43%, one of 973 bottles. Craigellachie is the bold, oily Speyside malt that anchors the White Horse blend. The official range runs a thirteen, seventeen and twenty three year old, with rare older bottlings.

The spirit was worked through stills and worm tubs for a muscular, oily spirit, to build a robust, sulphurous, full bodied character. 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. Worm tubs give little copper contact, so the new spirit is heavy and full, mellowing with time. The robust make rewards long ageing, the meatiness giving way to tropical fruit. The oily spirit shows the cask clearly, vanilla and tropical fruit over a meaty malt.

Bottled at 43%, it is rounded. Meaty malt, tropical fruit and a waxy oil, with a soft vanilla from the oak. Soft tropical fruit and a waxy malt sit behind the cask. A long, oily finish carries a tropical depth. This is one of Speyside's most robust single malts.