Craigellachie 13-year-old French Bas-Armagnac / 46% / 0.7l

The name Craigellachie translates from the Gaelic as “rocky hill.” The distillery began distilling in 1891, and its primary purpose was to supply malt spirits for the White Horse blend, a creation of Peter Mackie, one of Craigellachie’s owners.

Since 1998, the distillery has been owned by Bacardi, which bought it from United Distillers along with the rights to Dewar's blends, of which Craigellachie is now a key component. In spring 2022, the distillery launched the Craigellachie Cask Collection series. Its herald is the 13-year-old presented here, a whisky aged in ex-bourbon barrels (both refill and re-charred) and finished for over a year in ex-Armanca barrels from northern Gascony.

Aroma : fruity, grapes, pears, oranges, pineapples, vanilla, milk fudge, milk chocolate, honey, notes of cinnamon and tobacco.

Palate : caramel, honey cereal, vanilla, pineapple, lemon jam, orange peel, white pepper, cinnamon and toasted oak.

Finish: quite long, with notes of vanilla, caramel, cappuccino, citrus, white pepper, a bit of ginger and oak.