A little bag of Craigellachie


January 12, 2024

A little bag of Craigellachie

Perhaps no utter stars today, but we remain open to everything.

Medlar (Thyme.co.uk)

Craigellachie-Glenlivet 15 yo (46%, Cadenhead, Original Collection, Port, 2023)

Colour: deep gold. Nose: it is a very chocolaty one, you would almost believe you're visiting a chocolate factory… where they also store struck matches. Behind all this chocolate and these touches of sulphur, you'll find Golden Grahams and other cereals and cornflakes, a tiny bit of aniseed bread, a little metal polish, and a little younger rancio, rather from south of France. And bicycle inner tubes. Mouth: saltier, more peppery, mineral, and indeed sulphury (cabbage and truffle). More metal polish. Finish: salty, pretty long. Salted walnuts, sour vegetables, zucchini, eggplants... Comments: it's okay, I'm sure it'll have its afficionados. Or someone has sabotaged my sample (right, right, we've got two different samples from two different sources!)…
SGP:272 - 68 points.

Craigellachie 14 yo 2008/2023 (56.8%, The First Editions, wine barrel, cask #HL19546)

Colour: dark amber. Nose: very similar style, on chocolate truffles, compost, pumpernickel, a little menthol… With water: paraffin, chocolate, brake fluid, flints, basalt… Mouth (neat): caramel, toffee, eggplants, leather, stewed Brussels sprouts… With water: leaves, teas, marmalade. Marmalade saves it. Finish: long, on pepper, capsicum, tomato leaves, eggplants and leather. Comments: another tough one, extra-points for the marmalade. It takes all sorts to make a world, all whiskies have the right to exist, and all tastes are in nature. Besides, I know several friends who will love it, it's all only a matter of personal fit anyway. And the bottlers are easily part of the first tier. And their recent Craig' 15 yo 2007 #HL1964 had been rather stupendous (WF 89 in August). And the world needs peace. So, peace.
SGP:271 - 75 points.

We need redemption, we need bourbon or refill…

Craigellachie 12 yo 2011/2023 (58.9%, Fadandel, bourbon barrel, cask #900441, 182 bottles)

Colour: white wine. Nose: a little brutal, very grassy, but nicely malty as well. A little generic perhaps, but water will sort things out. With water: lemon and granny smith, plus green malt and green tea and just grass (green). Mouth (neat): punchy, leafy, also very fruity, on jelly babies and gummi bears, which is kind of the same thing, we agree. With water: pure clean malt with its usual attributes. Apples, citrus, barley, bread, yeast, a little earth. Finish: rather long. No changes. Comments: totally in a state of nature, that is to say excellent. Who needs a wine cask.
SGP:461 - 85 points.

Or wait, maybe simply something by Bacardi themselves?

Craigellachie 23 yo 1999 (55%, OB, Exceptional Cask Series, Double Cask, oloroso sherry, cask #3, 542 bottles, 2023)

This is going to be tricky, as their very recent 23 yo at 46% had gone very high in my book (WF 91). Best current malt in Craigellachie Town? Not so fast, let's see… Colour: amber. Nose: you'd believe we've just opened a family-pack of Weetabix, a bottle of white Meursault, a tin of peach halves in syrup, and a bag of overripe medlars. It is pretty winey/vinous, but in the most extraordinary manner. With water: some wee metallic touches (those small copper coins), more medlars, rosehip tea, rather poached pears (pears poached in Meursault, why not, and why not use Coche while we're at it), old fur coat, old-school lady's perfume, a little hazelnut liqueur… Mouth (neat): much more oloroso-y on the palate, with the expected walnuts joining in, together with, well, bone-dry oloroso, complete with touches of mustard, ground coffee, dark chocolate and crushed limestone. That Meursaulty thing again, perhaps. With water: spices chiming in, pepper, caraway, aniseed, even a little sea salt, as if that oloroso they've used was stemming from Sanlúcar. Finish: pretty long, saltier yet, more mineral, and even a little peaty, or am I dreaming? All that while our medlars are back in the aftertaste. Comments: absolutely awesome, as expected. It's just that I love the 'regular' 23 yo at 46% vol. even better, just checked that one again. But levels are extremely close, for sure.
SGP:562 - 90 points.

Check the index of all Craigellachie we've tasted so far