...where distraction is the main attraction.

Wednesday, September 19, 2018

Craigellachie 18 year old 1995 Old Malt Cask, cask 10589

Craigellachie Week Continues!

And today, it's another Old Malt Cask Craigellachie, and it's another sherry butt. AND I tried it along with Thursday's Craigellachie:


The tasting notes are going to be long enough so let's just skip to those.

Distillery: Craigellachie
Ownership: Bacardi
Region: Central Speyside
Independent Bottler: Hunter Laing
Label: Old Malt Cask
Age: 18 years (Nov 1995 - June 2014)
Maturation: Sherry Butt
Cask #: HL10589
Bottles: 730
Alcohol by Volume: 50%
Chillfiltered? No
Caramel Colorant? No

NEAT
The nose says, "This is the sort of clean sherry cask that would give Jim Murray a hard hat." Lots of stone fruit skins, cloves, flowers and baked apples. Cherry candy and orange peel. Toasted grains, salty air and cut grass. Other than its heat, the palate is very gentle. It has a bubblegum sweetness to it. Lemons, sweet grapefruits and ginger. Pleasant oak spice. Ginger and sweet citrus in the finish as well. Some salt and smoke. A good length.

DILUTED TO ~46%abv, or 1/2tsp of water per 30mL whisky
The nose feels hotter? Flowers and apple skins. A little bit of malt. Not much else. Tart citrus and sticky sugar in the palate. Uh oh, here comes some woody bitterness. The finish is sweet and tart, with a hint of smoke. Thankfully the bitterness fades.

WORDS WORDS WORDS
No water for this one please. It's a real pleasure when neat, and probably as sparkly-clean a Craigellachie as one can find.

Oh, and let's look at the official tasting notes for this one:
COME ON, Y'ALL! And by "Y'ALL" I mean Hunter Laing. "Sweetly Mellow With Vanilla", "Smooth", "Full Bodied with Vanilla", "Sweet Hint of Sherry"?????? You couldn't make a pencil stiff with descriptions like that.

Anyway, this was a very good whisky. I'm sorry I missed out on it.

Availability - Probably sold out
Pricing - ~€100
Rating - 88 (neat only)