Craigellachie 17 Year Single Malt Scotch 750ml

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Craigellachie 17 year old shows an evolution of the distillery style, the tropical fruit flavours are developing more exotic characters and there is an underlying sweetness as some cask development begins to show. This is a really special whisky and fun to explore, thinking about where the different flavours are coming from.

Tasting Notes by Advocacy Host Craig: Craigellachie is often referred to as ‘The Bad Boy of Speyside, and after tasting the 17 its not hard to see why. Thanks to the use of traditional worm tub condensers, they produce a heavier and meatier style of whisky.
Starting with a combination of sweet vanilla and caramelized apple, the 17 explodes with flavour when a drop of water is added, bursting forth with pineapple, citrus and lightly charred oak. It has a long finish that doesn’t overstay its welcome.

Craigellachie was built in 1891 by the experienced whisky team of Peter Mackie and Alexander Edward. They needed a Single Malt as an ingredient for White Horse Blended Scotch, so the distillery was designed to produce a very specific distillery style which the team replicate to this day.

Craigellachie features some very specific production techniques: barley from an oil fired kiln giving more weight, short stills and worm tub condensers to minimise copper contact. The team do 21 mashes per week, have 8 wash backs and 4 copper pot stills.
People always talk about ‘sulphur’ flavours, which can be distracting. Craigellachie has a roasted brimstone character alongside a meaty quality. Way back in the 1890s Alfred Barnard described “”the chief characteristic of the Craigellachie brand is the pineapple flavour it develops with age””. This tropical fruit style is what makes the brimstone and meat flavours work, achieving a balance that gets beautifully complex in older age statements.