Craigellachie 8 Years Old (Premier Barrel)

A Craigellachie of an 8 year old chosen by the Glasgow bottler Douglas Laing, bottled at 46%, one of 434 bottles. Craigellachie, where the Fiddich meets the Spey, is the meaty backbone of the White Horse blend. Water comes from a local spring in the Blue Hill area above the village.

It was drawn off pot stills cooled by traditional worm tubs, for an oily, robust make that turns tropical with age. A refill bourbon hogshead held it, keeping the meaty character to the fore. In these extractive early years the oak gives vanillin as vanilla and oak lactones as coconut over a robust, sulphurous malt. Most Craigellachie goes quietly into blends, a robust filler kept in part as single malt. The oily spirit shows the cask clearly, vanilla and tropical fruit over a meaty malt. It sits at the village of Craigellachie, where the River Fiddich joins the Spey by Telford's iron bridge.

At 46% it is smooth and honeyed. Malt, dried fruit and a savoury oil, with a soft vanilla from the oak. It is robust and waxy, the muscular spirit shining through. A robust, malty finish ends on tropical fruit and a warm spice. This is a meaty, tropical Speyside single malt.