Craigellachie 8 Years Old 2002 Cask #900066 (Signatory)

An 8 year old Craigellachie from the Pitlochry bottler Signatory Vintage, distilled in 2002, from cask 900066, bottled at 60%, one of 681 bottles. 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.

The spirit was distilled in copper stills with worm tub condensers on Blue Hill spring water, for a bold, meaty Speyside spirit. A sherry butt held it, the wood lending raisin and walnut to the robust spirit. In these extractive early years the oak gives vanillin as vanilla and oak lactones as coconut over a robust, sulphurous malt. The meaty, oily spirit takes cask flavour well while keeping its robust, worm tub weight. The cool Speyside air gives a slow, even maturation, the young sulphur fading to fruit. Most Craigellachie goes quietly into blends, a robust filler kept in part as single malt.

At cask strength 60% it is full bodied. Meaty malt, tropical fruit and a waxy oil, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. It is robust and waxy, the muscular spirit shining through. The close is long, fruit over a meaty malt. This is a meaty, tropical Speyside single malt.