Craigellachie 13 Year Armagnac Cask Finish

The Armagnac casks beautifully influenced this Craigellachie. Nose: Plums, Milk Chocolate, Hazlenuts, Rancio, Violets, Honey, Roses, Turkish Delights Palate: Honey, Milk Chocolate, Raisins, Prunes, Wildflowers, Pineapples, Butterscotch Finish: Pineapples, Peaches, Wildflowers, Walnuts, Plums, Raisins, Hazlenuts

Nose: Ripe orchard fruits, almost fermenting in the field, apple, anise Palate: Tart and fairly mild. Not much mouthfeel and not much flavor. Finish: Finishes stronger with barrel spice, astringency, and high pitched sweetness (poor description). Overall wanted more of a slam with the Armagnac and the nose is the most exciting piece of the experience.

I've become a self confessed Craigellachie fan boy over the last 2-3 years. From some IB's to the exceptional casks all the way down to the 13 year, I've had a few off ones, but overall they've been wonderful! Nose - Musty grapes, touch of citrus oak, bit of light funk. There's a hint of oak smoke and a slight toast base. Taste - Ok, up front it's lovely sweetness, funky toasted heavy oak, funk and a white wine note. It's not doing me anything or any good here. But let me put my head back around this. This is coming off differently than when I last had this. Last time the funky oak note that the worm tubs can often give me an off putting finish. Now the finish is a weird, really weird white wine, certainly no armagnac I've had. Now the oaky/nutty thing is still here for sure. I love Craigellachie, I get a lot of great notes here. I hate the bas-armagnac impact here. I'll give it a 1.75, there's just way too many better bottles. But it's unique and there's a place for that.

One of the many drams enjoyed during our ( @Richard-ModernDrinking , @ctbeck11 , @PBMichiganWolverine and @Bourbon_Obsessed_Lexington ) quarterly virtual tasting was this Craigellachie 13 finished in Bas-Armagnac casks that was kindly provided by @Richard-ModernDrinking The nose starts with a mix of musty grapes, mango, lime and smoking matchstick then hay bales, vanilla cream puff and chocolate covered chewy caramels followed by prunes, tangerine and ruby red grapefruit that transitions to white pepper, cloves and dusty leather-bound books with low ethanol burn. The taste is a medium mouthfeel starting with creamy fruits of musty grapes, mango, pineapple and a mild matchstick smoke then vanilla cream puff, honeysuckle, rosemary and chocolate covered chewy caramels followed by prunes, tangerine and caramelized nectarines that transitions to white pepper, cloves, leather-bound books and light polished oak with medium ethanol burn. The finish is medium length with musty grapes, creamy tropical fruits, light matchstick smoke, white pepper, cloves, and dusty leather-bound books. Similar to the regular 13, the nose is fairly restrained but with time the flavors began to emerge with light musty grapes leading underscored by tropical fruits and mild sulfur smoke along with creamy sweets, slightly sour fruits and light dusty leather-bound books that carried over to the palate with richer and bolder flavors than on the nose with a light Armagnac presence leading along with creamy sweet tropical fruits underscored by a light sulfuric smoke along with herbs, creamy sweets, caramelized citrus fruits and light dusty leather-bound books that finished medium length with musty grapes upfront before creamy fruits which fade into mild sulfur, spices and light dusty leather-bound books. Another delightful release from Craigellachie that the Armagnac influence is very restrained which adds light musty grapes and leather-bound books to the regular 13-year-old profile. In a side by side with the regular vs the Armagnac finish, I’d say they are extremely close, but the Armagnac manages to edge out the regular for me with those musty and old book notes. At a price between $65-70, I think this is well worth the cost.

We (as in @pkingmartin , @Bourbon_Obsessed_Lexington , @Richard-ModernDrinking and @ctbeck11 ) had our quarterly online tasting. This was one of the spectacular pours of the evening. The other four were 1) Bardstown Chateau Laubade batch 1 2) 2021 Diageo Special Release Lagavulin 12, 3) Barrell 20yr Seagrass, and 4) 15yr Jacob’s Well. This was sent courtesy of @Richard-ModernDrinking I would never have thought Craigellechie and Armagnac marry well. But it makes sense. There’s a certain rustic quality about Craigellechie, which is shared by Armagnac. In this case, the Armagnac is subtle, and let’s the malt be front and center, but you know it’s there…makes it’s presence known, just not assertively. Nose is herbal, briny, lemons. Whiff of sulfurous smoke. Taste : oolong tea, lemons, some earthiness. Really well balanced. Tasted blind, I’d have guessed Springbank 10. In fact, if you can’t find Springbank, buy this instead. For $65-70, this is a great VFM. In fact, I immediately bought one this afternoon. Thanks again @Richard-ModernDrinking for the generous pour!