Craigellachie 17 Year

Very strong malty and pepper taste. On the nose very fruity with a medium finish.

They say a sample sometimes doesn't do justice and you need to work your way through a bottle to really let it reveal itself but I often have the opposite problem in that I love a sample and then buy a bottle and it just doesn't measure up. I loved the sample of the 13, bought a bottle and it never hit the peak I remember. It could be a number of factors but maybe it's like your first time of any unique experience, subsequent tastings just don't hit your memory of the greatness, the element of surprise being lost, replaced instead by expectation of a high benchmark it should meet. This theory was reinforced when I shared with friends and one of them rated it how I once initially did despite me being by then a bit meh. The 17 is how I remember the 13 to be in a way. I rated the 13 a 4.25 but now just pushing 3.75 on a good day. This shoots to 4.25 with it's warm, honey sulphurous taste. Having tried both before and after the 13 seems quite flat, a shadowy variant lacking the vibrant viscosity and retaining the sulphuric note which now seems a bit naked, exposed and unbalanced. I'd love to swap my bottle of the 13 for a 17 but it's not available in NZ and probably a good thing as my personal experience may repeat itself yet again.

Good, nothing special