Craigellachie 16 Years Old 1997 (Connoisseurs Choice)

A 16 year old Craigellachie from the Elgin house Gordon and MacPhail, distilled in 1997, bottled at 46%. Craigellachie is a robust, fruity Speyside single malt from the heart of the region. Water comes from a local spring in the Blue Hill area above the village.

It was distilled for the heavy, meaty spirit Craigellachie is known for, for a bold, meaty Speyside spirit. Ex-Sherry wood added a dried fruit richness to the heavy, meaty malt. In the oxidative middle years oxidation draws out a deeper tropical fruit, vanillin and lactones fully expressed. The robust make rewards long ageing, the meatiness giving way to tropical fruit. A big sherry cask suits the muscular spirit, dried fruit meeting the meaty weight. Bacardi's John Dewar and Sons bought it in 1998, alongside Aberfeldy, Aultmore and Royal Brackla. The oily spirit shows the cask clearly, vanilla and tropical fruit over a meaty malt.

Bottled at 46%, it is rounded. A robust, oily fruitiness, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. The texture is full and oily, the fruit lifted by a meaty weight. A robust, malty finish ends on tropical fruit and a warm spice. This is the muscular, meaty Speyside malt of Craigellachie.