A WHISKY LOVER'S SPECIAL RANGE: SINGLE MALT & BLENDED

A WHISKY LOVER'S DREAM DRAMS

This is a hugely exciting time to be a whisky drinker, with brands emerging from across the world. Science and technology are filling in many gaps in the hitherto preserve of the epicureans, the aficionados and the cognoscenti. Small distilleries are sprouting every other day with a variance from time-honoured traditions, standing tall alongside the best whisky brands that have been pleasing lovers of the spirit for years. These whisky brands are introducing unique flavour profiles, unusual ageing methods, and thinking up new tricks as time passes to keep the drink at the forefront of our minds.

I have lined up a few brands that you can mull over and, where possible, buy. They range from the moderate to the slightly expensive, so you have many options.

THE GLEN MORAY RANGE 40% ABV

Glen Moray: In an on and off style, which most old distilleries are victims of, production started in real earnest in 1923. Two additional stills were added in 1958, along with a new still house; increasing capacity to two million litres. In 2004, LVMH took control of Glen Moray when it bought its parent company Glenmorangie. The distillery was sold in 2008 to La Martiniquaise.

It is believed that the closeness of the fast flowing river Lossie and the high water table produces a slightly warmer and more humid microclimate which assists maturation. Since the La Martiniquaise takeover, a higher percentage of first-fill American oak is used, adding more buttery notes to the mix. It was one of the first whiskies to be ‘finished’ in wine casks – Chenin Blanc and Chardonnay specifically – as well as Port. After a few quiet years, new releases are beginning to appear. Some peated malt is now being run as well.

The bulk of its production, about two-thirds, goes into La Martiniquaise’s best-selling blended whiskies, Label 5 and the Glen Turner. The other third goes into single malt bottlings. Following its purchase, the distillery underwent a third expansion with the addition of two more stills—for a total of six—increasing capacity to 3.3 million litres. A fourth expansion in 2016-2017, added three new wash stills. The six older stills were reserved for use exclusively as spirit stills. The expansion increased capacity to 6 million litres, and expanded warehouse capacity from 90,000 barrels to 250,000 barrels.

Glen Moray was among the earliest of the Scottish distilleries to experiment with innovative cask finishes. In 1999, five years after its parent, Glenmorangie, released its first cask finished expressions, it released whiskies that had been finished in barrels that previously held either Chardonnay or Chenin Blanc. The practice of cask finishing continues.

The distillery’s present core range consists of Glen Moray Classic Single malt. A non-age statement (NAS) expression that is aged for an average of six to seven years in ex-bourbon casks; the majority of which are first fill. There is also the Glen Moray Fired Oak, which is aged for 10 years and then finished in heavily charred virgin American oak casks. The resulting whisky has pronounced caramel and spice notes, and is slightly “bourbon-like” on the nose and palate.

In addition, there is the Elgin Heritage of 12, 15 and 18 year old, plus a hard to find 21-year-old expression. The 12 YO and 18 YO are matured exclusively in ex-bourbon casks with the latter being all first fill. The 15 YO is matured in a 50-50 combination of sherry and ex-bourbon casks. The 21 YO is matured in ex-bourbon casks for 19 years and then finished for two years in Tawny port pipes from Porto Cruz.

Glen Moray also offers a range of whiskies that are finished in a range of different types of wine casks. These include sherry cask, port cask, and ex-Chardonnay and ex-Cabernet barrels. There is also a peated single malt whisky and an expression finished in casks of rhum agricole from the St. James distillery in Martinique. A second peated version is expected after 2022.

The Chardonnay cask whisky originally carried a 10-year age statement. You can still, on occasion, find some of these expressions at retail. These “wine cask whiskies” are all NAS now. They spend an average of six years in ex-bourbon casks followed by eight to twelve months of cask finishing in an ex-wine barrel. The ex-Cabernet cask whisky is finished for 14 months.

Glen Moray is a classic Speyside malt. It is a light and smooth whisky, with distinctive notes of fruit and honey sweetness. Tasting notes on the Classic are placed infra.

Nose: At full strength, the aroma is fragrant and lightly drying with warming malty notes. The first impression is of butterscotch and shortbread with fresh herbal/grassy notes. Lemon curd and meringue are discovered in the background. With water, malt and spices combine to reveal oatmeal with a hint of freshly ground black pepper. Lemongrass, tea-tree oil and heather aromatics give the whisky a fragrance throughout.

Taste: The mouthfeel is lightly spiced with a warming and gently mouth watering effect. Malty toffee sweetness is present throughout with blackcurrants and a fragrant citrus lemongrass tang.

Finish: Shortbread, fresh herbal notes (lemongrass) and the sweet spiciness of ginger marmalade.

THE SPEYBURN RANGE

Speyburn is a light, natural, sweet, classic Speyside whisky.

It is Speyside. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Tradition and innovation are regular bedfellows in the world of single malt and Speyburn is a classic example. Its parent, International Beverage Holdings, is a believer in the old way of making whisky and has kept the distillery pretty much the same as when it was first designed by Charles Doig with inputs from Hopkins. It is a very picturesque distillery and is rated accordingly as the most photographed distillery in Scotland. 

Speyburn's stillhouse is the same (albeit now with steam driven stills) and the worm tubs have been retained. As is characteristic with worm sites, this method of condensing produces a deliberately sulphury new make which changes in cask to reveal the singular delicate, fragrant character which lies underneath.           

  

THREE OF THE FIVE CORE RANGE OF SPEYBURN WHISKIES- AGE STATED

In 1896, John Hopkins discovered a unique spot, in the heart of Speyside located opposite Glen Grant, which seemed suitable for making exceptionally smooth whisky. While hunting for the perfect spot for his distillery, John, along with his brother Edward, discovered the Granty Burn - an untouched stream hidden in that secluded Speyside valley. They knew that the exceptionally pure water of this burn would produce a remarkable whisky with a naturally refreshing character. The Hopkins trusted John's intuition and built the Speyburn distillery right there in the glen, using authentic river stones from the bed of the fast-flowing River Spey itself. Over 100 years after its founding, Speyburn remains the only distillery to use the pure, crystal-clear water of the Granty Burn. Water for other requirements is taken from the Broad Burn, another proximal tributary of the River Spey.

Set in a steep valley with limited space, Hopkins, with Charles Doig, the world famous distillery designer and innovator, designed an entirely new shape of distillery, building up through the trees rather than building out. Instead of one vast drying floor, he raised his malt upwards using layer upon layer of mesh, infusing it with the vibrancy of the Speyside air. 

Speyburn started operating rather late, in 1897, one of a number of distilleries with a pagoda designed by Doig (the inventor of the distillery pagoda, for most people the defining feature of any plant). The pagoda was originally built to help ventilate the distillery’s kiln. Doig also installed the first ‘pneumatic’ (drum) maltings in the Highlands on site, allowing production not to be tied to the size of its malting floors. These stayed in use at Speyburn until 1968.

THE TWO CORE RANGE NAS SPEYBURN WHISKIES

In time, it was absorbed into Scottish Malt Distillers (the malt arm of DCL) but changed hands in 1991 becoming part of Inver House till 2001, till bought by Pacific Spirits, which, in turn, morphed into International Beverage Holdings, a Thailand-based beverage company in 2006. Clan Speyburn, an online community for this brand was formed in 2012.

Its start was dramatic. 1897 marked the 60th anniversary of Queen Victoria’s reign and Hopkins promised all and sundry that he would create a distillery and bring out a bottle to mark that year. Nobody believed him! Production began on 01 November. Hopkins and his crew were able to get their new make flowing by Christmas. The team toiled through a storm of Arctic proportions to craft a whisky in time to toast the Queen’s Jubilee. Determined that their first bottle would bear the year 1897 on its label, the men battled against the elements wearing overcoats and mufflers to protect them from the freezing snow. After hours of hard work and with heroic efforts of his distillery men, Hopkins finally triumphed and, on the last night of the year and was rewarded with the first barrel of Speyburn whisky.

120 years since distilling its first drop, Speyburn is now more than a whisky. Bold, bright and full of character, their Speyside single malts are as inspiring to newcomers as they are to seasoned whisky enthusiasts, allowing everyone everywhere to enjoy the beautiful simplicity of Speyside. To celebrate Speyside, they currently offer a range of expressions. Whichever Speyburn offering is selected, you can expect to enjoy the classic taste of Speyside in every dram. After all, Speyburn is Speyside.

In recent years, however, Speyburn has been marketed as a value for money malt in the US. While this has resulted in large volumes in terms of sales, the price pot hasn’t helped the whisky’s reputation. Strangely, this ninth ranked malt brand in the USA is still unknown to most of the world and probably under-appreciated where it’s a best-seller.

Speyburn goes to great lengths to draw on the best this land has to offer. By sourcing consistently high quality malted barley from their long-standing UK suppliers, they ensure that this key ingredient is the perfect first step to creating our award-winning single malt whisky. Before they fully extract the excellence locked in the grain, their 10 tonne twin-roller ‘Boby’ mill crushes the malt into grist 5.6 tonnes at a time. They then take four hours to complete one mashing cycle, to produce clear and flavoursome ‘wort’.

Speyburn uses both stainless steel and wooden washbacks, the latter made of Douglas fir. They are large tanks where wort meets yeast and the fermentation takes place, in a spectacle of frothing and churning; this is the most visually spectacular part of the process. Long fermentation times add to the character of the finished single malt whisky. The ‘wash’ already has much of the Speyburn character locked in it.

Sitting proudly at the heart of Speyburn Distillery is one large wash still used for first distillation and two smaller spirit stills for the second. The wash still charges both spirit stills at the same time, an unusual distillation regime which helps them achieve a light yet flavoursome spirit.

The stills are of classic Speyside shape, broad at the base with slender necks. They work in tandem with traditional worm tub condensers. This time-honoured method of turning vapour into spirit adds the familiar body and rich character to their whisky. The birth of charismatic Speyburn distillate is satisfying but the work is far from done. In fact, the wait is only beginning. All Speyburn single malt is matured in air-dried oak casks seasoned with bourbon or sherry. These excellent vessels help the spirit fully develop its natural qualities. Speyburn is matured in traditional dunnage warehouses. Those dark, cavernous buildings provide the optimum temperature and humidity for a long and even maturation process. As the whisky slowly ages it becomes smoother, sweeter and more flavoursome, resulting after many years is a single malt whisky they’re proud to call Speyburn.

Speyburn has a production capacity of 1.9 million litres of pure alcohol. There are several interesting features about whisky production at Speyburn. The fermentation is relatively quick at 48 hours. It utilises a six-ton mash tun and six 26,200 litre washbacks. The malt is slightly peated. Speyburn was the first distillery to introduce drum maltings. It maintained these until 1968, when it switched to a commercial malt producer.

The distillery has two pear shaped stills. Pear shaped still are characterised by a wider neck than traditional Speyside stills. The wider neck promotes reflux, the condensation of the vapour within the neck of the still, so that it falls back into the pot and is redistilled. The process maximises the amount of copper contact experienced by the spirit.

Worm Tub Condensers: Such condensers are the traditional copper spiral, now largely replaced by modern shell and tube condensers. The latter maximise copper contact in the condensers, while the former minimise it, creating a deliberately sulphurous new make, often expressed as a meatier robust spirit. The average new make strength is 69.3%. Speyburn uses a combination of ex-bourbon casks and also ex-Pedro Ximenez (PX) sherry casks to mature its whisky. PX is a type of sherry made from partially raisinated grapes. It is very sweet and viscous, almost syrupy, and imparts flavours of raisin, fig and other dried fruits, along with a distinct sweetness. The company operates two dunnage warehouses. These are the traditional Speyside warehouses with earthen floors and barrels stacked three high.

There are many different expressions of Speyburn malt from independent bottlers, the majority of which were released by Gordon and MacPhail and Douglas Laing. Distillers Choice also has a range of bottlings from a 13-year-old to a 30-year-old.

The distillery’s current core range consists of five expressions: 10 YO, 15 YO, 18 YO, Arranta Casks and Braden Orach. Arranta Casks are a non-age statement (NAS) bottling of specially selected casks that have a “uniquely bold and characterful flavour profile.” They are only available in the U.S. Bradan Orach, Gaelic for golden salmon, is also a NAS whisky. It has a light and fruity, classic Speyside style. Its name commemorates the world class salmon fishing found on the River Spey.

Speyburn 10 YO, 40% ABV, 750 ml, $24

This is the bestselling of all of the Speyburn expressions. It is similar to Bradan Orach, but the aromas and flavour are more intense. The colour is a light gold.

On the nose, the whisky is sweet. There is the distinctive lemon aroma typical of lowland malts. There are additional notes of honey, apple, pear and apricot, along with some anise, caramel and a hint of peat.

On the palate, there are the classic fruity Speyside flavours. The pear and apricot notes are quite distinctive, along with some ripe apple and cooked cereal notes, and a bit of anise and biscuit. The whisky has a sweet element, along with noticeable smoke and peat notes.

The finish is medium length, smooth, with lingering sweet fruit notes and a touch of smoke.

This is a great whisky. At an average retail price of around $24 it’s an exceptional value.

Speyburn 15 YO, 46 % ABV, 750 ml, $64

According to the company this expression is matured in a combination of American and Spanish oak casks. Presumably, these casks previously held bourbon and PX sherry but, if so, that is not disclosed. There is an obvious sherry cask element in this expression, although that can often be imparted by Spanish oak casks. The term Spanish oak refers to French oak (Quercus robur) grown in Spain./p>

The colour is a rich amber. On the nose, it is incredibly fruity, with notes of citrus, especially lemon, tangerine and grapefruit, along with tropical fruit notes of mango and melon. There are dried notes of golden raisin, fig and prune, along with caramel, some wood spice and vanilla notes.

On the palate, there is a veritable fruit salad of flavours, including apple, tropical fruits, along with dried raisin and apricot and a bit of ginger pepperiness. The whisky is smooth and creamy with an oily, pronounced palate weight. As the whisky opens up more pronounced vanilla and some milk chocolate notes emerge, along with cinnamon and nutmeg.

The finish is long, creamy, with lingering sweet dried fruit notes.

This is an interesting whisky. Incredibly fruity, it makes an excellent sipping whisky. It reminds me of the Glendronach 18 YO or the Glengoyne 15 YO. It’s smoother with a touch of water. Price varies dramatically, depending on where it’s bought.

Speyburn 18 YO, 46% ABV, 750 ml, $100-110.

Like the 15 YO, the 18 YO Speyburn is matured in a combination of Spanish and American oak. The bottling commemorates the 18th anniversary of Speyburn’s distillery manager Bobby Anderson. Only 9,000 bottles were made available.

The colour is dark amber. On the nose, there is the classic rich, sherried Speyside aroma of nuts, citrus zest, raisin and fig. There is a slight medicinal note of eucalyptus and camphor, think Vicks VapoRub ointment, along with caramel, spice notes of cinnamon and nutmeg, also some biscuit and a hint of marzipan and some smokiness.

On the palate, the sherry notes are so prominent you could mistake it for a Macallan. There are flavors of dried orange and lemon zest, along with apricot, dried tropical fruit, walnut, milk chocolate and biscuit. There are also spice notes of black pepper cinnamon and nutmeg. There is a noticeable smoke and peaty note that hangs in the background.

The finish is exceptionally long, smooth and very flavourful. This is a classic sherried malt, with lingering notes of smoky, sweet dried fruit that ends on a bittersweet note.

Additionally, there are several higher proof expressions that are available only at travel retail. There is also the Speyburn Companion Cask expression, which is a NAS whisky matured exclusively in ex-bourbon casks from the Buffalo Trace distillery in Kentucky.

Speyburn is an exceptional whisky, especially the 15 YO and 18 YO expressions. These are outstanding whiskies, reasonably well priced, which offer the depth and complexity that sherried whiskies can offer. The 10 YO and the NAS expressions lack the complexity of their older siblings, but they are excellent whiskies, make excellent aperitifs and are phenomenally well priced. It’s a shame these whiskies are not better known. They all merit further exploration by the Scotch whisky enthusiast.

A Speyburn Classic: The Speyburn 2008 Scyfion 10 YO

Category: Single Malt

Distillery: Speyburn from Speyside

Bottler: Berry Bros & Rudd bottling Series: Scyfion Choice

Cask type Muscat Dolce Passione Cask Finish

Strength 46.0% vol

Colour:  Amber

Nose: Restrained, moist, fresh boards, stale smoked meat, rotting foliage; sulphur-mineral shades, window putty, locksmith's workshop - machine oil, metal shavings, dusty steel tools, grease; creamy tones - boiled condensed milk, toffee; dry herbs.

Body: Rounded, fluid.

Palate: Intense, calm, oaky, sweet creamy notes mixed with tropical fruits, candied citrus fruits, mango, pineapple, nuts, lemonade tones, lollipops, honey, metallic sulphur and caustic mineral shades, in development it becomes extremely sweet, but at the same time prickly -mineral.

Finish: Light, spicy, candy-oak, tropical fruits, pineapple, mint, mango, juniper, lemon peel, ginger, grapefruit, hydrogen sulphide mineral water.

This is a very rich whisky, with a vast palette of derivatives, both in breadth and in shades and half tones, very multifaceted with industrial notes/ sulphuric/ tropical/ creamy and oakwood. Everything is very high quality brought into a single whole, class , in the style of the best industrial releases from Speyburn.

THE CRAIGELLACHIE RANGE  

EARLY DAYS

Craigellachie Distillery Status: Operational

Established: 1891

Owner: Bacardi Limited

Capacity: 4,000,000L per annum

Craigellachie Distillery has been producing very characterful, heavy and sulphurous malt whisky for more than 125 years, but has managed to slide under the radar, keeping itself fairly insular and protected. Sulphur has become an emotive subject in recent years, but it is one which is also misunderstood. There are two ways in which you can get sulphurous notes in whisky. One is through the burning of sulphur candles in casks to stop bacterial infection. Although this was once standard in Jerez with the rise of bespoke casks for the whisky industry the practice has now been outlawed.

The second form of sulphur comes from barley and is naturally produced during the whisky-making process. If you cut down the amount of copper available to spirit vapour the higher the sulphur levels in the new make will be. What appears to not have been understood is that this sulphur disappears in time. It acts as a marker; an indication that once its cloak has been lifted a spirit will emerge either as meaty (Cragganmore, Mortlach, Benrinnes) or fragrant (Glenkinchie, Speyburn, Balblair, AnCnoc, and Craigellachie) In other words, sulphur can be desirable.

Craigellachie revels in its sulphurous nature. The first thing you smell as you enter the distillery is the notes of cabbage and beef stock. This is rising from the worm tubs which sit at the back of the distillery. It is the small amount of copper contained within them that helps to promote this character. They also add weight to the palate of the mature spirit.

Long fermentation has however fixed fruitiness within the spirit and this tropical/floral note emerges in the mature spirit. It’s this character: full, yet aromatic which has made Craigellachie a prized malt for blending: it has been a major contributor to White Horse since the late 19th century – with the result that it had to wait until 2014 to receive its promotion to the rank of front-line malts.

STANDING TALL TODAY

Craigellachie Distillery was born off a collaboration between blenders and merchants led by Alexander Edward and Peter Mackie. The two were whisky legends of their time, both with solid experience in establishing and running distilleries and building brands. Craigellachie was one of Edward’s first ventures away from his family which had a long tradition of distilling in Banffshire, with Benrinnes under the control of his father since 1864. Edward, though only 25 when the distillery was built, was already the lessee of Benrinnes. He also owned a local brickworks, built new villas in the growing village and, in 1896, constructed a large hotel. He would go on to build Aultmore, Dallas Dhu and Benromach.

Mackie, of Lagavulin fame, also came from a distilling family: his father was a farmer, grain merchant and distiller while his uncle, James Logan  Mackie, co-owned the Lagavulin Distillery in Islay, which was where Peter Mackie found himself working in 1878. Just twelve years later – a year before his collaboration with Edward – Mackie would help his uncle’s company set up its own blend, called White Horse, to which Craigellachie’s fortunes would be tied over the coming decades.

Craigellachie’s distillery, however, was built in 1890. The original Craigellachie Distillery was designed by Charles Doig of Elgin and sported one of his iconic pagoda-style roofed chimneys, which to this day protrudes proudly above the surrounding buildings. As one of his earlier designs, it’s an example of his classic E-shape pagodas, if somewhat compressed. It was built with all modern conveniences with the express intention of making a lighter fruitier character than the older distilleries – one of the earliest descriptors of Craigellachie mentions pineapple as a desirable aroma.

Edward pulled out in 1900 to concentrate on the other interests, leaving Craigellachie in White Horse’s ownership. It was the core malt within Mackie’s Old Smuggler and Old Gaelic brands which were hugely successful in Australia and South Africa. White Horse – and therefore Craigellachie – became part of DCL but when that firm merged with IDV in 1998, the Monopolies Board insisted that it sell off some of its estate – specifically John Dewar & Sons and five distilleries, one of which was Craigellachie. They were snapped up by Bacardi which still owns the distillery.

Two years after being founded, Craigellachie was incorporated as a limited company and in 1896 it was reconstructed as Craigellachie-Glenlivet Distillery Ltd. The year before, following James Logan Mackie’s death, Peter Mackie had become chairman of his uncle’s company, in charge of its White Horse blend.

Despite this activity, some sources have suggested not a drop of whisky was produced before 1898. To the contrary, tasting notes from Alfred Barnard, who visited Craigellachie in 1893/94, suggest at least some whisky was being produced. He stated that 2,000 quarters of barley were waiting to be steeped, and noted “the chief characteristic of the Craigellachie brand is the pineapple flavour it develops with age”. However, the Pattison Crisis starting 1898 – a period when whisky was overproduced with the Pattison brothers, owners of multiple distilleries, artificially inflating prices and caused a crash- saw Craigellachie largely unscathed despite Alexander Edward being caught up in the drama and forced to temporarily close some of his distilleries which had supplied the Pattisons. The market was flooded with too much whisky, leaping from an annual output of two billion gallons to 13 billion, Craigellachie’s first few years were slow ones.

That the distillery survived was perhaps something to do with the conservative Peter Mackie who remained organisationally cautious. He described his business sense as one that favoured independent status, personal authority and familial recruitment. He believed traditionalism and predictability were just as important as sales.

After Edward withdrew from the partnership, Mackie and the remaining blenders and merchants carried on with Craigellachie’s production. The early years of the new century were quiet but the distillery underwent its first reconstruction when a reservoir and filter beds were added in 1902 – designed to put an end to periods of short-term closure due to draught. By the time war came, Peter Mackie’s company had total control of Craigellachie, which was forced to close due to barley shortages, reopening in 1919 - the same year Peter Mackie was given a baronetcy. Before his death, in 1924, he spent time trying to organise the company to unite with Buchanan-Dewar, and while this was something that never came to fruition, he finally decided to take the company public as White Horse Distillers Ltd.

After the death of the founders, life continued ut semper for the workers at Craigellachie.  Change was coming and in 1925 the big three whisky companies – John Walker & Co., James Buchanan & Co., and John Dewar & Sons – united to form Distillers Company Ltd. Two years later DCL bought White Horse Distillers. In 1930, the whisky distilleries from all four companies where transferred to a subsidiary of DCL, known as Scottish Malt Distillers. Craigellachie, like all Scottish distilleries, was most likely forced to close during World War II due to barley shortages, although this isn’t recorded anywhere. Two years after the war ended, in 1947, the Speyside Cooperage was established on the south side of the distillery and remained there until 1992 when it moved further down the road due to the need for expansion.

The 1950s were another quiet decade for whisky production, especially at Craigellachie where not much changed. It was during the 1960s, however, that the whole distillery was overhauled: from 1964 to ‘65 many of the original buildings were torn down and rebuilt, leaving only Doig’s floor maltings, kiln and the pagoda roof.

A second pair of stills were also installed in 1965, doubling the capacity for distillation. The branch line through Craigellachie town was scrapped under the Beeching rail reforms, leaving a picturesque walking track today known as the Speyside Way. Craigellachie continued its production under Scottish Malt Distillers throughout the 1970s and managed once again to escape unscathed by the bust in the market during the 1980s. Many other distilleries were forced to close, some never to reopen.

In 1987, DCL merged with Arthur Bell & Sons, both owned by Guinness, to become United Distillers & Vintners. Ten years later United merged with Grand Metropolitan to form what we know today as Diageo. Deemed to hold too great a monopoly on the whisky industry the company was forced to sell Dewar’s whisky company, including Craigallechie, alongside John Dewar and Son’s, Aberfeldy Distillery, Aultmore Distillery and Royal Brackla Distillery. The package, plus Bombay Sapphire Gin, was snatched up by Bacardi for £1.15 billion.

For much of its history, Craigellachie supplied most of its production to the White Horse blend, but as part of the John Dewar & Sons group of distilleries (incidentally a move Peter Mackie had tried to engineer back in the 1920s). Craigellachie is now available as a single malt. The first official single malt expression from the distillery was released in 2004 as a 14-year-old, and Craigellachie is a respected single malt in its own right, as well a component in the Dewar’s blend.

Craigellachie Distillery has been producing very characterful, heavy and sulphurous malt whisky for more than 125 years, but has managed to slide under the radar, keeping itself fairly insular and protected. The journey from field to bottle for Craigellachie whisky is similar to the majority of Scotch malt whisky brands. It is the nuances in malting, fermentation, distillation and maturation that shape the individual nature of the whisky’s character, and in the case of Craigellachie it is the malting process that particularly stands out. 

THE PORTEUS MILL

Malting: Craigellachie sources its water from underground springs by the Blue Hill Quarry, adjacent to the distillery, fed by a pipeline directly into the distillery. It uses Concerto malted barley from Glenesk malting in Angus, with the specific requirements from John Dewar and Sons to only use barley grown in the UK, preferably Scotland. Importantly for the character of Craigellachie whisky, during malting, rather than a gas burner being used to spread hot steam through the grains, heavy fuel oil is used, producing steam with sulphur in it. The oil-fired kiln at Glenesk maltings is only used for Craigellachie and the malt produced in it kept separate from those destined for other distilleries.

A Richard Sizer Porteus Mill processes 10 tonnes of malt per grind, taking a little over two-and-a-half hours to process. The old mill, dating from the 1860s, is kept working by the mill engineers. Two grist bins, rather than the typical one, allow Craigellachie mill to process two millings by the time one mash is finished.

Fermentation: Every Tuesday morning the yeast tank is refilled with a cream MS-1 strain. Craigellachie uses 192 litres of yeast per batch, with a capacity in the tank of 4,500 litres. As a ratio, it works out at 19 litres of yeast per one ton of mash. The use of liquid yeast represents a transformation from the situation pre-2008 when the distillery still brought yeast in dry form in sacks, mixing it with water to create a ‘slurry’. The use of liquid yeast eases handling and has speeded up the process.

Mash Tun: The old mash house has a large stainless steel plate in the floor covering the hole where the mash tun was historically situated. The new mash tun, installed in 2001, sits in an adjoining purpose- built mash house. This 10 ton Steinecker mash tun is a full lauter, meaning the rakes can move vertically as well as horizontally, while computer control and monitoring for pressure differentials negates the need for an underback. The temperature of the mix of malt, yeast and water in the mash tun is raised until it reaches 67.3°C, considered the optimum temperature to start sugar extraction. At this temperature, the enzymes needed in fermentation are preserved – in Scottish whisky production it is illegal to add enzymes, in contrast to American or Irish whiskey, hence all enzymes must come from the malt. Having collected the first water (wort) containing the extracted sugars and precious enzymes, the temperature is gradually increased in subsequent waters to tease as much sugar out of the malt as possible.

The mash tun produces 47,000 litres of wort which is pumped to one of the eight larch wood wash-backs where fermentation takes 55-65 hours. Craigellachie typically operate 21 mashes per week.

Wash back : The fermented wash is pumped into the two wash stills – one mashing produces enough to charge each of pair of stills with 22,730 litres of wash. Another element that distinguishes Craigellachie is its use of worm tub condensers – a coil of copper tubes lying in a large iron container filled with constantly flowing cold water. The vapour coming off the stills is directed through these tubes and is cooled and so condensed by the surrounding water.

Wash stills : Many companies have phased out worm tubs in favour of modern shell-and-tube condensers as worm tubs are notoriously prone to leaks, meaning water coming through the spirit safe and alcohol being lost in tub – and then consequently down the drain where the used water flows from the tubs. To guard against this, workers regularly drain down each tub, gas test it and then run water through it to see if there are any leeks. The continued use of worm tubs not only maintains distilling tradition; they also beneficially affect the character of the distillate produced. Worm tubs offer less copper contact than shell-and-tube condensers so produce more complex spirits with a heavier mouthfeel.

At Craigellachie, 20,000 litres of wash at about 8% alc./vol. enters the first still, which produces low wines at about 27% alc./vol. The low wines from both wash stills are combined along with feints from the previous 2nd distillation to charge the spirit stills with 22,730 litres. In the spirit stills, foreshots (heads) are allowed to run for around half-an-hour until the distillate reaches 72% alc./vol. at which point the run is switched to spirit (heart). The spirit run lasts between four-and-a-half to five hours and the final cut to faints (tails) is made at around 63% alc./vol.. Inside the still house, the scent of sulphuric malt is evident in the air – a smell specific to Craigellachie.

Spirit stills: The new-make spirit is sent by tanker to Dewar’s maturation and bottling plant in Glasgow. Here the whisky is stored mostly in ex-American bourbon barrels, with around 10% refill European oak, for a minimum of three years and anywhere up to 21 years, before blending and bottling.

A little bit of sulphur in a spirit can be a good thing, giving it a full body and a savoury, meaty character. Age goes a long way in polishing sulphur’s ragged edges, so intensely sulphurous new make doesn’t necessarily mean a finished whisky will share its rustic qualities. Starting in 2014, the distillery released a series of new official bottlings, including 13, 17 and 23 YO expressions, with others expressions having since followed. Although it’s still Dewar’s primary blend malt, Craigellachie is quickly becoming a single malt of some renown. The distillery’s 31 year old expression was named World’s Best Single Malt in the 2017 World Whiskies Awards.

Craigellachie 13-Year-Old

Single malt, 13 YO, non chill-filtered, 46% ABV, no E150a

Appearance: Pale gold.

Nose: Astringent. Green, plenty of alcohol burn, which dissipates fairly quickly. A pretty rugged aroma of sweat, salt, raw peanuts, dried limes, herbs, pepper and mild spices, bitter phenol and burn toast meets the nose. Barley sugar. It’s not particularly enticing, and smells a little like a dive bar. A half-teaspoonful of water segregates the components. Camphor, mint, chlorophyll, grapefruit, quite Irish.

Palate: Fiery, with toasted nuts, model airplane glue, dry vanilla and salty peanut brittle. It’s very sweet, with an almost liqueur-like mouthfeel.Then the sour funk. Slightly smoky barrel char. Candy oak, lozenges, the sour funk again, demanding. Much like Tyrconnell.

Finish: Long and lingering, clean. Tannin crispness. Ends with sweetness and chemicals.

Fruity and funky, savory and sour, Craigellachie 13 is a robust dram with quite a bit of complexity. The sour notes are more pronounced when the bottle is initially opened—exposure to air seems to knock some of these notes out, but they still remain lurking a bit. And I should be clear—this is a good type of sour. The type of funky sourness that holds your attention and brings everything together, not the type of sour that makes you think something is wrong with the product.

This is really quite an enjoyable single malt. It’s not peated and it’s not heavily sherried (although I think there is a small sherry influence), but it is a dram with a ton of old time Scotch whisky character and complexity. Throw in the fact that it’s very reasonably priced, and the end result is a fantastic bottle that I highly recommend. Excellent value for money.

Craigellachie 17-Year-Old

Single Malt. 17 YO 46% ABV, Un Chill-filtered No E150a

This whisky was awarded Whisky Advocate's 2014 speyside malt of the year after Dewar's rolled out an impressive selection of single malts from distilleries which didn't have much in the way of official bottlings before that point. This is an unpeated single malt, with a focus on the cereal notes in the blend - the malt is ground very finely, and is drained to be quite a cereal-laden wort - as expected, the malt notes to be quite central to the character of the blend.

Colour Bronze.

On the nose: Here’s something curious. All of the “elements” of this whisky seem to be on show, but somehow they feel individual, rather than melded into a harmonised whole. Vegetal, almost dieselly touch of sulphur and tyre rubber from the worm tubs: check. Honeys, melon and cooked apple and pear from the casks and spirit: check. Quite mellow and behaved. Rich, dried fruit right off the bat. You soon see that the malt is coming together, growing in body, complexity, and integration. Rummy, with some light molasses, light brown sugar, lightly heavy and meaty – but not as much as the 13, it is quite a different malt – raisins, apple, sweet malt, spices (clove, nutmeg), and light dusty earthiness. Dried pineapple, dried papaya. The malt is so central, and it is brilliant. Elderflower. Bourbon cask notes tend to come with time, and the oak grows.

Palate: The palate again carries malt centrally, with very slight malty acidity- lightly floral and more herbal than the nose. Oily and full-bodied. The flavours more or less pick up where the nose left off, with perhaps less input from the sulphur and fruit, and more from the honeys and malt. Flapjacks, custard creams, and millionaire’s shortbread. A sugary cereal finish – like a cross between branflakes and frosties. And we have some nice peach, and spices which meld really well with the malt – cinnamon, and something a bit sharper, cloves, nutmeg. Papaya comes in at the end. The oak is quite present, but very well integrated.

Finish: The finish is relatively short, but complex with a slight bite similar to the 13 year old. A malty influence, as from a decent lager, and light menthol on the end. The dry glass yields some wonderful sweet oak. Wisp of sulphur returns at the death.

Craigellachie 23-Year-Old

Craigellachie 23 Y O 46% ABV Non Chill-filtered Natural Colour

Colour: russet, but very vibrant.

Nose: that’s lovely: a nice oily, slightly dirty and industrial note balanced by orchard fruits. And it’s in that baked apple, heather honey and mead zone that the dram settles. Sulphur – just a hint, just enough. Slightly soapy too, with a flash of tarragon and something meaty, like a chicken broth. I would say that despite the age and interesting presence in the glass, it isn’t too complex. No smoke so rest easy.

Palate: baked apples, pears and a heft of meatiness dominate the palate. Oily, and the characterful sulphur comes to the fore. Herbal, and slightly ashy. Honey, but it’s not that sweet. Nutmeg. I think this one just feels too heavy on the refill casks; so there’s a lovely texture that comes through, but the complexity doesn’t follow. And there’s an oaky, tannic bitterness with cloves and pepper that unbalances things on the finish.

Finish: Medium length. Nutmeg and cinnamon linger the longest, with mild oak spice. Some dried apple. Faint bitter cardboard note also persists to the end, unfortunately. Water adds some additional simple sugar, but doesn’t help with the bitterness on finish. This is an interesting experience, and one that seems driven by both the distillate and the cask aging (or some combination thereof). It has a lot of character for a light malt, but some of the notes may be off-putting. Serve on any occasion or buy as a gift for whisky lovers.