Craigellachie 2003 SMWS 44.96 / 59.7% / $119
Malt-review has been slamming the Single Malt Whisky Society’s choices to focus recently on out-turns of exclusively young, wine/sherry-cask finished bottlings, but this Craigellachie came out in Japan, and it looked promising.
First, it’s 14 years old, distilled 27 June 2003, so it’s not one of those 7–10 year scotches that dominate recent months’ offerings. Second, it’s finished in a first fill charred red wine barrique. I guess they can’t count the finishing time, maybe for SWA issues, because I’m guessing it sat in ex-wine cask for at least 2.5 years? This is one of 237 bottles.
Syrupy in texture showing notes of aged dessert wine, pastries, hessian and an elegant waxiness. This was previously in an ex-bourbon hogshead.Who ate all the pies? was SMWS USA’s ‘Bottle of the month’ where it is sold out, but it’s still available in Japan.
- Color: burnt umber
- Nose: elmer’s glue, banana bread, musty autumn forest-bed, tawny port, a hint of charcoal
- Taste: richly fruity and decadent; chocolate, pinot noir grapes; a little bit malty
- Finish: long and waxy, vanilla and oranges
This breaks down a little bit with water added, I think I actually prefer it neat. It has a really strong fruit/wine-influenced profile, but I think they’ve done quite well to use a hopefully longer finishing period on a decently aged base whisky.
Rating: 89/100
