Craigellachie 13 Year

Surprisingly good

Better with water

The nose starts with a mix of mango, dehydrated apricot and smoking matchstick then hay bales, vanilla cream puff and chocolate covered chewy caramels followed by lemon zest, tangerine and ruby red grapefruit that transitions to white pepper, cloves and light polished oak with low ethanol burn. The taste is a medium mouthfeel starting with creamy fruits of mango, pineapple and a mild matchstick smoke then vanilla cream puff, honeysuckle, rosemary and chocolate covered chewy caramels followed by lemon candy, tangerine and caramelized nectarines that transitions to white pepper, cloves and light polished oak with medium ethanol burn. The finish is medium length with creamy tropical fruits, light matchstick smoke, white pepper, rosemary, leather and freshly cut oak firewood. This is a delightful dram that the nose is fairly restrained but with time the flavors begin to unravel with tropical fruits and mild sulfur smoke along with creamy sweets, slightly sour fruits and mild peppery spices that carries over to the taste where the flavors explode on the tongue with a wonderful balance of creamy sweet tropical fruits underscored by a light sulfuric smoke along with herbs, creamy sweets, caramelized citrus fruits and mild peppery spice with polished oak that finishes medium length with creamy fruits upfront before fading into mild sulfur, herbs and a peppery woody spice. At a price of around $65, I think this is well worth the cost but would recommend anyone interested to try a sample before buying a full bottle as those sulfur notes could possibly be too much for some palates. A huge thanks to @ctbeck11 for the generous sample and this is a great start to my little exploration through some of the Craigellachie releases.

Love this smooth speyside, fruity.