Craigellachie 16 Years Old 2009 Cask #211 (Signatory)

This Craigellachie was bottled by the Pitlochry bottler Signatory Vintage, a 16 year old, distilled in 2009, from cask 211, bottled at 55.6%, one of 306 bottles. Craigellachie was built in 1891 and is one of the few distilleries still using worm tubs. The distillery was founded in 1891 by a group led by Peter Mackie, the man behind the White Horse blend.

It was made in copper stills whose worm tubs build a robust make, for a bold, meaty Speyside spirit. A bourbon barrel held it, vanilla and a soft spice over the oily malt. Into oxidative maturity, slow air ingress builds fruity ethyl esters (pineapple and mango) over the oily, meaty depth. Vanillin and oak lactones from the wood lend vanilla and coconut over the meaty malt. The oily spirit shows the cask clearly, vanilla and tropical fruit over a meaty malt. Worm tubs give little copper contact, so the new spirit is robust and full, mellowing to tropical fruit with age.

At cask strength 55.6% it is full bodied. Tropical fruit, malt and a warm spice, with a soft vanilla from the oak. A dried fruit and a savoury, oily depth give it weight. The close is long, fruit over a meaty malt. This is a full bodied Speyside single malt of real character.