Craigellachie 13 Year Old

Worm tubs. Worm what? Worm tubs!

Craigellachie (pron. Krai-GELLachy) distillery is located in Aberlour, Banffshire near the village of Craigellachie, at the center of Speyside. The distillery was built by Peter Mackie, who already owned the Lagavulin distillery, in 1891. At that time, Whisky experts noted that Craigellachie represented a style of Whisky "seldom met with now", referring to their usage of worm tubs to cool their Spirit, and bestow it with extra flavor; something they continue doing to this day. Worm tubs are an old-fashioned condensing system, an intestine-like ring of metal coils submerged in cold water. It is through these coils that the Spirit is passed and cooled slowly, resulting in a curiously meatier Spirit. Only a few other distilleries, such as Old Pulteney, Glen Elgin, Mortlach, and Springbank also use worm tubs.

Craigellachie 13 YO is one of three Craigellachie bottlings released in 2014. Meaty and oily, as is typical for this distillery, the 13-year-old shows a lot of talent, especially at this price. Curiously interesting, the 13-year-old exudes characteristics of an older Whisky, more in the range of 18-20!

Smartass Corner:
Craigellachie means rocky hill in Gaeliec.