Craigellachie 23 Twelvemonth Old

Craigellachie is a unmarried malt whisky distillery located in the Speyside region of Scotland (actually Aberlour, near the hamlet of Craigellachie).  The name apparently ways "rocky hill" and refers to a nearby cliff germination.

Craigellachie distillery was built in 1891, and like nigh Scottish whisky makers has passed through many hands over the years. In 1998, it was bought by John Dewar & Sons (now controlled by drinks giant Bacardi). The distillery'due south output is directed primarily into Dewar'southward blended whiskies. Note that Dewar & Sons too controls Regal Brackla, Aberfeldy, Aultmore, and Macduff (whose malts likely all suffer a similar fate).

Throughout its history, the distillery has released only a limited number of official bottlings. These were augmented in 2014 with several new age-stated expressions.  The oldest of these was a 23 year old, reviewed here. Craigellachie has since released a 31 year old expression as well.

Bottled at 46% ABV. Craigellachie 23 retails across a wide range, depending when y'all are located (i.e. I've seen it listed between ~$350-700 CAD).

Allow's see how Craigellachie malts fare in my Meta-Critic Whisky Database, compared to other Dewar products:

Aberfeldy 12yo: 8.16 ± 0.33 on 19 reviews ($$$)
Aberfeldy 16yo: 8.48 ± 0.19 on 4 reviews ($$$$)
Aberfeldy 18yo: 8.58 ± 0.24 on 8 reviews ($$$$)
Aberfeldy 21yo: 8.79 ± 0.nineteen on x reviews ($$$$$)
Aultmore 12yo: 8.49 ± 0.21 on 14 reviews ($$$$)
Aultmore 18yo: viii.57 ± 0.20 on half-dozen reviews ($$$$$)
Aultmore 25yo: eight.94 ± 0.21 on iv reviews ($$$$$+)
Craigellachie 13yo: 8.41 ± 0.56 on 16 reviews ($$$)
Craigellachie 14yo: 8.37 ± 0.28 on 6 reviews ($$$$$+)
Craigellachie 17yo: 8.threescore ± 0.19 on 11 reviews ($$$$$)
Craigellachie 23yo: 8.98 ± 0.25 on 8 reviews ($$$$$+)
Dewar's 12yo: 7.94 ± 0.35 on xiv reviews ($$)
Dewar's White Label: vii.51 ± 0.71 on 14 reviews ($$)
Majestic Brackla 12yo: ± viii.24 0.47 on 12 reviews ($$$$)
Purple Brackla 16yo: ± 8.67 0.28 on 7 reviews ($$$$$)
Imperial Brackla 21yo: ± 8.79 0.18 on 4 reviews ($$$$$)

Not surprisingly, the anile expressions are fairing the best in the comparisons above. That is certainly a very practiced score for the Craigellachie 23 – the highest of the group.

My sample came from Redditor Strasse007.

Olfactory organ: Apple tree juice and honey to start (like virtually Craigellachies), plus plums. Lemon citrus. Stale flowers and potpourri. Cinnamon. Wintergreen. Black tea. Information technology's a lovely calorie-free and aged nose, but with a expert corporeality of complexity. Faint former book glue annotation.

Palate: Toffee and butterscotch first off, with some honey. Candy-coated apples. Grapes. Citrus again (more orangey now). Cinnamon and some oaky forest, plus that black tea again. Has a full mouthfeel, with a buttery texture – very nice. It makes you want to concord it in your mouth. Slight ethanol notation on the swallow, which detracts for me. Also something wet cardboard-like (which similarly doesn't appeal).

Finish: Medium length. Nutmeg and cinnamon linger the longest, with mild oak spice. Some stale apple tree. Faint biting paper-thin note too persists to the terminate, unfortunately.

Water adds some boosted elementary sugar, but doesn't help with the bitterness on finish.

This is an interesting feel, and one that seems driven past both the distillate and the cask aging (or some combination thereof). It has a lot of graphic symbol for a light malt, but some of the notes may be off-putting.

Certainly above average in quality, but it is non really a standout for me. I might venture that it has been over-anile (and would probably be meliorate a piddling younger). But a unique experience, and one I'm glad I got to try.

It gets very loftier scores from Serge of Whisky Fun, Ruben of Whisky Notes, and Dave of Whisky Advocate. Also positive are TOModera, Strasse007, Throwboats and Unclimbability on Reddit. I would be more moderately positive, along with Jim Murray, and cake_my_day, Ethanized and LetThereBeR0ck on Reddit. Certainly no negative reviews out there from amid my stable of reviewers.