Craigellachie (meaning “Rocky Hill”) was associated with the White Horse blend until the distillery was sold to Bacardi Martini in 1998. Their whisky was available in Diageo’s Flora & Fauna line (now one of the rarest F&F bottlings) which was replaced by an official 14yo in 2004.
The village of Craigellachie is also home to the world famous Craigellachie Hotel, which has one of the largest single malt selections in the world.
This is the first Craigellachie released by The Whisky Exchange.
Craigellachie 15yo 1994
(46%, Single Malts of Scotland 2009, cask #5901, 325 btl.)
Nose: holds the middle between orangey and buttery notes. Orange cake? Slight hints of shoe polish and a bit of vanilla. Yellow apples. Very fruity in a “warm”, biscuity kind of way.
Mouth: malty / fruity, quite creamy with lots of vanilla fudge. Hints of fruit liqueurs. Dried pineapple cubes, some marmelade. Not very powerful but pleasantly drinkable. Spicy oak influence after a while, but nothing huge.
Finish: long enough, basically on the same flavours. A few added hints of nutmeg.
Very pleasant stuff. It seems that few Craigellachies are spectacular but most of them are very enjoyable. A late summer whisky. Around € 52.
Score: 84/100