By
George Brozowski
If
that theorem I proposed last week holds true (that
you can always tell a good scotch by the fact that the name
is impossible to pronounce, even harder to spell and can never
be easily remembered) then this Craigellachie single
malt Scotch should be really good, or else I'm just
simply full of it!
Craigellachie
literally means rocky hill because that's where the distillery
is located in Speyside at the confluence of the River Fiddich
and the river Spey.
Now,
here's where it goes from country bucolic to Frankenstein
weird; they are one of the last places you will find worm
tubs in use. What in the hell are worm tubs? Well, let me
reassure you that they don't make scotch from worms. Quite
the contrary; they use worm tubs (snaking copper condensers)
to cool their scotch and bestow it with extra flavor sometimes
described as meaty! Meaty scotch, really!?! Well, why not,
I can believe it because I have already tasted salty scotch
and even liked it so why not meaty scotch?
Even
though they have been around since 1891, very little of their
scotch has been released as a single malt because most of
their production goes into making the Dewar's blends. They
finally started releasing a single malt only in 2004. Since
they've been at this for quite a long time, I can't wait to
get my mouth around this scotch and see if it really is meaty
or maybe they're just full of it!
This
scotch comes in a large yellow round cardboard container that
exactly reflects the labels on the bottle. And let me tell
you, these labels contain the entire history of the distillery,
its geography, how it's made, and everything unique about
it. It's practically the entire history of Scotland and distillation
all set forth in the tiniest type font imaginable and, arguably,
if printed out on 8X10 paper there would probably be enough
copy to create a book the size of War and Peace.
The
scotch itself is a golden honey color. The nose is initially
a honeysuckle sweet fruity pear and apricot combination that
quickly begins to exhibit a smoky woody backside along with
a vanilla cinnamon pairing. It is very mellow and laid back
with almost no ethanol fumes. 13 years in the cask has certainly
tamed this wild child. On the palate, the smoky, oaky notes
come on first and foremost, followed by the fruit and vanilla
and cinnamon, with hints of nuts and toffee bringing up the
rear. The finish is long and quite smooth with the sweetness
of the fruit again coming out first, followed by the vanilla
and smoke and oak.
This
is quite a nice scotch whose taste should make it easier to
remember and pronounce and spell. It has a bit fuller mouth
taste and feel that one might interpret as "meaty"
but it absolutely does not taste anything like meat per se.
OK, so they're not full of it because their scotch is meaty
as in flavorful and tasty, not as in pork chops or chicken.
I also still think it's hard to pronounce and spell but it's
darn good which means no one is full of it, not even me.
Craigelliche
single malt scotch can be found for around $67.00
per 750 ml bottle and weighs in at 46% ABV.
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