This Craigellachie started life in an ex-bourbon hogshead. After 13 years it was re-racked into heavily charred new oak hogshead for an additional 2 years of finishing.
Nose: An immediate sense of texture – beeswax and bees honey with a daub of grease. Cooking apples, glace cherries and gooseberries sit with crumbled rich tea biscuits, choux buns and buttered bread. The addition of water releases some tropical notes with dried mango slices and guava alongside cashew nuttiness and honeycomb.
Taste: Still quite the textural affair with a real sense of waxy weight. Ripe green apples and pears journey into baked buns and tart cases whilst pepper pushes through. Burnt toffee sauce joins buttery biscuit base with a split vanilla pod. Reduction takes things away from the patisserie adding hints of lemon balm, orchard fruits in their own juices and a slightly burnt, but hard to define umami flavour.
Finish: Medium in length with fading fruits, charred cask heads and still effervescent pepperiness.
A well composed Craigellachie which possesses a lovely texture and weight throughout – mouth-coating and substantive. A solid balance between fruitiness and patisserie and a never outstaying its welcome peppery spice. Good stuff.