Craigellachie 23 Years Old 1999 Cask #3 (LMDW)

This Craigellachie was bottled by the bottler La Maison du Whisky, a 23 year old, distilled in 1999, from cask 3, bottled at 55%, one of 582 bottles. Craigellachie is an old fashioned Speyside malt, full bodied and sulphurous in youth, tropical with age. Worm tubs give little copper contact, so the new spirit is robust and full, mellowing to tropical fruit with age.

The spirit was run through the distillery's stills and old fashioned worm tubs, giving the heavy, oily spirit at its heart. Maturation in an Oloroso cask laid dried fruit over the meaty, oily malt. Oxidative, evaporative ageing turns the malt deep and waxy, ethereal esters and a faint sotolon (maple). Most Craigellachie goes quietly into blends, a robust filler kept in part as single malt. It was launched as a single malt brand in 2014, with a bare knuckle, old fashioned image.

Bottled at a cask strength 55%, it is rich. Tropical fruit, malt and a warm spice, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. It is robust and waxy, the muscular spirit shining through. A long, oily finish carries a tropical depth. This is the worm tub malt of Craigellachie.