Craigellachie 11 Years Old 2008 Cask #900622/3, 800130/1 (Signatory)

A Craigellachie of an 11 year old chosen by the Pitlochry bottler Signatory Vintage, distilled in 2008, from cask 900622/3, 800130/1, bottled at 48.1%. Craigellachie is an old fashioned Speyside malt, full bodied and sulphurous in youth, tropical with age. It sits at the village of Craigellachie, where the River Fiddich joins the Spey by Telford's iron bridge.

The spirit was run through the distillery's stills and old fashioned worm tubs, for an oily, robust make that turns tropical with age. 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. 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.

At 48.1%, undiluted, it is deep and fruity. Mango, wax and a meaty depth, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. Beneath it run meaty malt, tropical fruit and a waxy oil. The finish is deep, oily and savoury. This is Craigellachie, the meaty heart of White Horse.