Craigellachie 12 Years Old TWCe (The Whisky Cellar)

The bottler The Whisky Cellar bottled this Craigellachie, a 12 year old, from cask 40 + 41, bottled at 55.1%, one of 206 bottles. Craigellachie was built in 1891 and is one of the few distilleries still using worm tubs. Bacardi's John Dewar and Sons bought it in 1998, alongside Aberfeldy, Aultmore and Royal Brackla.

The spirit was drawn off pot stills cooled by traditional worm tubs, for a bold, meaty Speyside spirit. First fill bourbon gave a fuller vanilla and pineapple over the robust spirit. Through integration spirit and wood marry, vanillin settling into vanilla as ethyl esters lend a riper, tropical fruit over the meaty malt. Most Craigellachie goes quietly into blends, a robust filler kept in part as single malt. The slow loss of the angel's share concentrates the oily, tropical core over the years. The cool Speyside air gives a slow, even maturation, the young sulphur fading to fruit.

At its natural 55.1% it is concentrated. Meaty malt, tropical fruit and a waxy oil, with a soft vanilla from the oak. Beneath it run meaty malt, tropical fruit and a waxy oil. The close is long, fruit over a meaty malt. This is the muscular, meaty Speyside malt of Craigellachie.