Craigellachie 14 Years Old 2006 Cask Series 015 (North Star)

From the bottler North Star Spirits, a 14 year old Craigellachie, distilled in 2006, bottled at 58%, one of 195 bottles. Craigellachie sits above Telford's famous Spey bridge, a Speyside distillery of real muscle. It was rebuilt in 1965, but kept its worm tubs where most distilleries dropped them.

Worked through stills and worm tubs for a muscular, oily spirit, building the old fashioned Craigellachie style. A sherry butt held it, the wood lending raisin and walnut to the robust spirit. In integration lactones (coconut) and vanillin (vanilla) knit with the malt, the worm tub weight softening to tropical fruit. The cool Speyside air gives a slow, even maturation, the young sulphur fading to fruit. Most Craigellachie goes quietly into blends, a robust filler kept in part as single malt. Worm tubs give little copper contact, so the new spirit is robust and full, mellowing to tropical fruit with age.

At cask strength 58% it is full bodied. A heavy, oily maltiness, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. The texture is full and oily, the fruit lifted by a meaty weight. Tropical fruit, malt and a savoury oak see out the finish. This is the muscular, meaty Speyside malt of Craigellachie.