Tasting Craigellachie 13 YO

With Iron Maiden's Alexander The Great as number one in the playlist we are tasting Craigellachie 13 yo.
The Craigellachie 13 YO is a new bottling by John Dewar & Sons and introduced at the same time as the Aultmore 12 YO and a revamped Aberfeldy 12 YO as part of the Last great Malts. Glen Deveron and Royal Brackla will follow.

Craiggelachie is one of the 15 distilleries in Scotland that still use (traditional) wormtubs. To be honest, we couldn't tell you what difference it makes to the spirt or end result for that matter, but according to the information on the tube it gives the whisky "a distinctive and meaty character".
More importantly the label states this whisky is non-chill-filtered. No word about colouring, but maybe whisky friends in Germany of Denmark can comment on that. In these countries adding caramel must legally be displayed on the label.
Another plus is the bottling strength at 46%.
Together with the 13 yo a 17 YO and 23 YO Craigellachie will be released and even a 31 so we were told.
First impression is good, great bottle (with embossed distillery name in the top front), great tube design.
Every bottle is individually numbered.


Our experience:

Color: Deep gold
Nose: Lemoncake, sweet grapes, pineapple, vanilla
Taste: Honey, firm, the burned oak is there. As there is toasted bread. Anis, green tea and almond.
Finish: Oily, a sweet-sour bitterness, cocobutter

A liquid cupcake this is. We were already happy with the Aultmore, but this is even more to our liking. A thick Speysider, sweet, oily character. One to savour before dinner or two after.
Hurray for the chaps at John Dewar's for releasing this expression as a single malt. And at a decent price as well. We will look out for the other expressions and have a wee taste.


www.craigellachie.com

www.lastgreatmalts.com






Source:
Malt Whisky Yearbook 2015- Ingvar Ronde

©Whiskytips 2015

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Tasting Auchentoshan American Oak

With Rainbow's Tarot Woman blasting through our stereo, we are preparing for a tasting of a new expression of Auchentoshan to the Dutch market.
This new Auchentoshan is called the American Oak. It is a non age statement (NAS) Scotch whisky at 40%, with colour added. 

Although these days most Scotch whisky is matured on American oak (lots of supply, relatively cheap compared to scarce sherry casks, good constant quality, good flavour), Auchentoshan (Gaelic for "corner of the field") wants to express the typical flavour that comes off the American bourbon barrels: vanilla, coconut, citrus. And it must be said these notes can absolutely be found in this dram.
Now, as most malt fans know, Auchentoshan is the only Scottish malt that triple distills all its spirit.
We were very lucky to attend  an intimate tasting with European Brand Ambassador Alasdair Dickinson in the old town of Haarlem. We made a little videoreport:

There we could take a sip of the Auchentoshan new make spirit. Very juicy stuff indeed. Our general comment was: why don't you release this stuff for the general market? Excellent base for cocktails for example.
This fruitiness comes back in the taste, in a slightly different way. The spirit is more oily, has strawberry and a malty character, after having rested in bourbon barrels for a while, the fruity flavour is more southern: peach, apricot, citrus.








Tasting notes

• Colour:  deep copper
• Nose:  vanilla, coconut(sunscreen), bread, marmelade, peach
• Taste: soft oak tones, creme brulee, apricot brandy, limoncello
• Finish: creamy, bit dry (on the side of the tongue)

Conclusion: To tell the honest truth: we were able to get hold of a bottle two months ago already. That bottle didn't last very long. It's a nice, easy going dram, with indeed some typical bourbon barrels notes in it, that go well with the triple distilled spirit of Auchentoshan. A nice entry to the Auchentoshan range. When you are in in the neighbourhood of Glasgow, do go and visit the distillery. Here you can have a quick peek.

©Whiskytips 2014

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