Craigellachie 13 Years Old 2008 Cask #7535-869/879/889 (Duncan Taylor)

The Huntly bottler Duncan Taylor bottled this Craigellachie, a 13 year old, distilled in 2008, from cask 7535-869/879/889, bottled at 54.1%, one of 246 bottles. Craigellachie sits above Telford's famous Spey bridge, a Speyside distillery of real muscle. The official range runs a thirteen, seventeen and twenty three year old, with rare older bottlings.

The spirit was made in copper stills whose worm tubs build a robust make, 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. Craigellachie is one of the last Speyside malts still built on worm tubs. The robust make rewards long ageing, the meatiness giving way to tropical fruit.

At cask strength 54.1% it is full bodied. Malt, dried fruit and a savoury oil, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. It is robust and waxy, the muscular spirit shining through. A long, oily finish carries a tropical depth. This is a full bodied Speyside single malt of real character.