Cragganmore 12 Year (2019 Special Release)

Nose: Buttery malt, vanilla, apple pie with ice cream. It’s all orchard fruit and sweet malt but there is a sly note of smoke in the background that builds over time. The alcohol content is apparent at first but it disappears quickly. Adding water brings out a floral dimension like a fragrant dry flower arrangement. Palate: A sweet arrival with a little heat but it’s only a flash of fire from the high alcohol. Juicy cereal, honey, vanilla custard slice, maple syrup. The texture is creamy and has good weight but it’s not cloying. Reduction amplifies the sweet cereal and honey notes even further. Finish: Medium/Long. Orange juice, apricot nectar, honey, a touch of oak and lingering gentle smoke in the aftertaste. An excellent and very pure expression with chewy barley grist simmering in fragrant oil. It’s delightful neat and it’s in that form that the smoke presence is clearest. Adding water makes it dangerously easy to drink but the gentle peat smoke retreats a bit too much, which is a shame. There’s not much more to say. This is a fine single malt, an excellent example of Cragganmore and all the proof you need that simple maturation in good ex-bourbon casks without any added fuss or finishing can produce magnificent whisky. I was not a great fan of the following year's Cragganmore 2020 Special Release but this one is on a whole different level and I'm very pleased I grabbed a bottle at the time. The quoted price is what it cost five years ago. “Excellent” : 88/100 (4.5 stars)

It is indeed alienating to have the nose being welcomed by a very meaty and "chewable" peat, as if you were approaching a Ledaig, but it is only the initial impression: a delicate spiciness accompanies soft custard, cinnamon, green apple, an impression of seaweed and a citrus touch. Wood. Rough and at the same time caressing, very intriguing. The important alcohol content is not felt at all. On the other hand, at the palate it is quite noticeable, but it is not the punch that one could imagine: an impetuous yet warm and enveloping effluvium. The peat always very present, with a much more accentuated mineral note, in this rich spiced cake with a mixture of vanilla, ginger, cinnamon, wood chips and lemon zest, cooked with charcoal. The aromas accompany for a long time (together with the alcoholic hit), with wood drenched in sea water, vegetable peat, charcoal, vanilla and cinnamon. Take the elegant composure of the classic Cragganmore and have it worn by Vin Diesel, who comes along to embrace you affectionately: here, this is the effect that this dram gave to me. Rough, impetuous yet capable of being welcoming and soft, in a precarious balance that seems to work miraculously. But it damn works!

크래갠모어 12년 2019 디아지오 스페셜 릴리즈 Cragganmore 12y Special Release 2019 58.4% -1901년 언덕의 돌들을 사용하여 재건축함 - 크래갠모어는 '큰 돌'이라는 뜻 -스페이사이드 크래갠 개울물 사용 -올드파 키몰트 -미디움 피티드, 리필 아메리칸 캐스크 향 : 강력한 도수감, 처음에는 스모키함이 주를 이룹니다. 일반 크래갠모어의 가벼움을 생각했다가 처음에 코가 깜짝 놀랐습니다. 이후 계속해서 코를 잔 속에 집어넣으면 스모키함이 익숙해지고 붕 뜨는 알콜감 속에 레몬, 바닐라가 조금 발견됩니다. 파인애플 조각 끝의 상큼달콤함도 순간 캐치됩니다. 맛 : 가볍고 깨끗한 질감으로 입에 들어오지만 5초 이후 스파이시함이 터집니다. 레몬, 살구, 플로랄함이 입 안을 가득 채우고 조금 더 터져 나갑니다. 스모키한 향으로부터 출발하면 상당히 매력적입니다. 피니쉬 : 목넘김 이후에는 약간의 짠맛이나 후추맛이 지나가고, 이후 화사함의 끝을 보여주듯이 은은한 플로럴함이 가득찹니다. 한줄평 : 고도수에 스모키-플로랄 노트로 개인적으로 매력적이라 생각합니다.

Nose: Smokey, fall time. Burning leaves and wood burning fireplace. A salty bacon grease is eased up by a sweet fruitiness. Palate: a little peppery at first but softens to allow some toffee and Smokey salt to emerge. Finish: Chocolate citrus peel comes forth mixing well with the smokiness that’s been subtly there the entire time.

Victoria Canada at the Bar in the Bank great whiskey loved Victoria Canada. Cruise to Alaska on the miracle. Stopped at the port and drank this June 28 2022 The Bard and the Bank

Quite light and easy drinking, kind of a toffee nose, but doesn't stick out as anything special.