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| Hi, this is one of our (almost) daily tastings. Santé! |
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January 9, 2026 |
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The Time Warp Sessions,
today 1989 Cragganmore twenty years apart |
If there’s one distillery we don’t taste often enough for my liking, it’s Cragganmore. Its various expressions—apart from perhaps a few ‘secret’ editions—are as rare as a dictator’s remorse. At least we can count on some older bottlings we’ve yet to sample to keep flying the flag high... |
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Cragganmore-Glenlivet 16 yo 1989/2005 (58.6%, Cadenhead, Authentic Collection, butt, 678 bottles) 
The few 1989s by Cadenhead (two, in fact) that we’ve already tasted were very much to our liking. Perhaps owing to the flat and broad stills and, of course, the worm tubs. Colour: full gold. Nose: fat and extraordinarily winey. And by winey, I mean it exhales notes of venerable white wine of great pedigree, perhaps a Montrachet or one of its closely related crus. What follows is a curious mix of rose petal and camphor with just a touch of paraffin. In short, a highly unusual nose… With water: the paraffin remains and is joined by linseed oil and charcoal fixative. In short, a malt for artists. Mouth (neat): incredible, there's little difference with the nose, so we’re still on old Chardonnay and paraffin, but also an immense bitterness that would send both Fernet-Branca and Jeppson’s Malört back to the Graduate School of Bitterness. With water: barely budges and remains extremely bitter. But we do like our bitterness firm, even if we may well be the only ones in the entire village. I mean, to this extent. Finish: very long, very bitter, and even rather salty. Was this a fino butt? Comments: a proper warrior, this Cragganmore, one that doesn’t compromise in the slightest.
SGP:172 - 87 points. |
And now, with twenty more years of maturation… |
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Cragganmore 36 yo 1989/2025 (51.8%, Whiskyland, Decadent Drinks, refill hogshead, 158 bottles) 
This baby will no doubt be less bitter than its sparring partner of the day. Colour: gold. Nose: we do find some elements of the younger one, notably that paraffin and liquid wax profile, but here it’s taken on a near-fractal tertiary development, veering towards flowers, apples and greengages, rounded out with walnut oil, peanut oil and sesame. It’s absolutely lovely. With water: freshly cut hay in the middle of August. Mouth (neat): utterly splendid, beautifully old-school, with those same bitters again but now softened and more delicate, along with heaps of citrus zest, some rather serious green tea, and the sensation of biting into a beeswax candle. What’s most spectacular is the overall balance. With water: and the hay returns. Our neighbours in the Vosges make hay wine and I must say, it can be really good, especially when said hay contained a good number of various flowers. Finish: long, narrowing onto the bitters and waxes, which is perfectly normal. Overripe apple peeks through on the aftertaste. Comments: the best Cragganmore of the year so far (that’s clever, S.) You can tell it’s an old malt whisky, yet it has none of the usual drawbacks—no dryness, no overt tannins, no cardboardy bits… in short, none of that here, which is rather surprising. A slight cerebral touch all the same. I adore it.
SGP:461 - 91 points. |
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