Craigellachie 13 Year Old

Craigellachie is a lesser known malt that was re-launched by the owners in the Last Great Malts series. Dewar’s & Sons presented their new line-up of this Speysider in 2014 with a 13, 17, 19 (travel retail), 23 and even 31 Year Old. Let me try the entry level malt of 13 years which matured on American oak.

The nose keeps you waiting for a while. First I get some yeast and raw barley notes before any fruit shows itself. Yellow apples, green banana and hints of citrus fruit, but I cannot really call this very fruity. A touch of honey and some milk chocolate. To be completely honest… a little boring.

The palate is not much of an improvement, I must say. Lots of malt – not the sugars – with some apples and maybe some pineapple and apricots pastry but also a big bitter note. Some almonds and more apples, but slowly this is become quite sharp. A bit of a let-down.

The finish shows an interesting bit of woodsmoke, but that’s about it.

Not exactly the most outspoken, complex or even very good Craigellachie I have tried. I am left a bit disappointed. I will spend those 50 EUR elsewhere.

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