Craigellachie 19 Years Old

A 19 year old Craigellachie, a distillery bottling, at 46%. Craigellachie sits above Telford's famous Spey bridge, a Speyside distillery of real muscle. Water comes from a local spring in the Blue Hill area above the village.

It was made in copper stills whose worm tubs build a robust make, building the old fashioned Craigellachie style. First fill bourbon gave a fuller vanilla and pineapple over the robust spirit. At oxidative maturity aldehydes and esters lend tropical fruit while ellagitannins add a drying, savoury grip. The robust make rewards long ageing, the meatiness giving way to tropical fruit. Most Craigellachie goes quietly into blends, a robust filler kept in part as single malt. Vanillin and oak lactones from the wood lend vanilla and coconut over the meaty malt. Worm tubs give little copper contact, so the new spirit is heavy and full, mellowing with time.

Reduced to 46%, it is mellow. A robust, oily fruitiness, with a soft vanilla from the oak. The mouthfeel is heavy and oily, the fruit carried on a meaty body. The finish is long, oily and savoury. This is an oily, tropical Speyside single malt.