Craigellachie 15yo 46% Cadenhead's
An older bottling of Craigellachie, an underestimated single malt usually with lots of charisma. White wine color, smells string and minty, as if swallowed a whole case of breath mints. Settles after a while, but still minty and spirity. The taste is sour and vile, a kitsch-whisky? Needs water. It turns even more sour, sour leafs and raw onion.
A curiosity, merely as a collectible: 1
Craigellachie 15yo 1994-2010 59.1% G&M for Slainte Whiskyclub cask#7324
From a refill sherry hogshead. light Brown colour, peach tee. The nose is quite sherried, rich, prunes, cinnamon, malt syrup, rhubarb porridge, big and covering the high %abv really well. The taste is powerful, lots of restrained sweet notes hidden behind explosive peppery notes with something resembling a light but assertive peatiness. Needs just a bit of water to sweeter, spicier, more rhubarb, more sherry notes, prunes and honey with some sweet licorice and dark chocolate. This one keeps improving with time but be careful with the amount of water as I find its heavy sherry notes turns more phenolic and bland if more than a teaspoon is added.
When diluted right, very good in my book: 8.5
Craigellachie 13yo 1997-2010 58.1% The Whisky Exchange
One of these handbottled ones, don't know the thought behind this gimmick as I can see no possible flavour enhancement from this fact other than maybe create some distrust towards other bottling methods(?). This one's even paler than the Mortlach, it smells spirity and floral, some grassy notes. The taste is zesty, lime peel and bitter oranges, but most of all it it is spirity and needs water. Now it opens up with some unripe green apples, a nice sour style.
With water it gets interesting: 6
Craigellachie 12yo 65.5% James Macarthur's cask 468
One from JM, which frustrates me, because they travel from the best bottling to the worst without giving any clues whatsoever about what to look for. This is a quite pale whisky. The nose is far too strong, crazy stuff, I'll add water straight away. This is actually not bad, sour apples, grapes, lemon and orange zest. Let's repour and try undiluted. A fantastic taste, this is absolutely a classic in my book. Really doesn't need water at all, I recommend not to add.
Fantastic malt, best Craigellachie yet: 7.5
Craigellachie 17yo 1991-2008 43% CC Gordon and Macphail
One of the modern CC's without chill-filtration and a higher abv than the older bottlings from this serie. Very pale, seems Gordon & Macphail have dropped on the colouring as well. It smells pretty nice, some mint, cool, herbs, vanilla and honey. It's initially strong and woody, but changes quick to mild and peppery with no aftertaste, as many of the G&M bottlings so often is missing. With water it becomes more sweet and plastic. A very strange malt.
Like a very disturbed Imperial: 4.5
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