Craigellachie 6 Years Old 2016 Watt Whisky (Campbeltown Whisky Company Ltd.)

A 6 year old Craigellachie from the bottler Campbeltown Whisky Company Ltd, distilled in 2016, bottled at 58.1%, one of 517 bottles. Craigellachie is a robust, oily Speyside single malt made on worm tub condensers. The official range runs a thirteen, seventeen and twenty three year old, with rare older bottlings.

It was distilled in copper stills with worm tub condensers on Blue Hill spring water, for a bold, meaty Speyside spirit. A Pedro Ximenez cask added raisin, date and a treacle sweetness. At an extractive age eugenol lends a clove note and lactones a coconut, the spirit heavy, oily and robust. The cool Speyside air gives a slow, even maturation, the young sulphur fading to fruit. Its malt has long been the muscular heart of the White Horse blend. Water comes from a local spring in the Blue Hill area above the village. The oily spirit shows the cask clearly, vanilla and tropical fruit over a meaty malt.

At its natural 58.1% it is concentrated. Pineapple, malt and a savoury edge, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. The mouthfeel is heavy and oily, the fruit carried on a meaty body. The finish is deep, oily and savoury. This is a meaty, tropical Speyside single malt.