Craigellachie 13 Years Old (46%)

A 13 year old Craigellachie, a distillery bottling, at 46%. Craigellachie sits above Telford's famous Spey bridge, a Speyside distillery of real muscle. It was launched as a single malt brand in 2014, with a bare knuckle, old fashioned image.

The spirit was run through the distillery's stills and old fashioned worm tubs, for an oily, robust make that turns tropical with age. An Oloroso hogshead lent fig, raisin and a savoury, nutty edge. By the integrating teens the sulphur fades and esters build, pineapple and wax growing over the oily spirit. A big sherry cask suits the muscular spirit, dried fruit meeting the meaty weight. The official range runs a thirteen, seventeen and twenty three year old, with rare older bottlings. It was rebuilt in 1965, but kept its worm tubs where most distilleries dropped them. Years in oak round the spirit, the worm tub weight turning to pineapple and wax.

At 46% it is gentle, sweet and fruity. A heavy, oily maltiness, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. The mouthfeel is heavy and oily, the fruit carried on a meaty body. Tropical fruit, malt and a savoury oak see out the finish. This is the worm tub malt of Craigellachie.