Craigellachie 17 Year

Continuing my exploration through some of the Craigellachie releases, I have a sample of their 17 year. The nose starts with a mix of mango, charred pineapple, and freshly lit pipe tobacco then hay bales, vanilla cream brûlée, candied pecans and chocolate covered chewy caramels followed by sautéed apples, mandarin orange and watermelon hard candy that transitions to white pepper, cloves, leather and polished antique furniture with low ethanol burn. The taste is a medium to full mouthfeel starting with creamy fruits of mango, charred pineapple and freshly lit pipe tobacco then toasted marshmallow, honeysuckle, rosemary and chocolate covered chewy caramels followed by sautéed apples, mandarin oranges and caramelized peaches that transitions to white pepper, cloves, leather and polished antique furniture with medium ethanol burn. The finish is medium length with creamy tropical fruits, hay bales, freshly lit pipe tobacco, rosemary, leather and polished antique furniture. Wow, those additional 4 years of aging have really polished out those sour citrus notes found on the 13 leaving creamy tropical fruits and caramelized orchard fruits along with polished antique furniture that the flavors are bolder and richer than the 13 year. For me, this is far better than the 13 that carries a higher price of around $150+, but I think the refinement and bolder flavors really help justify its price.

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.

Nose: hazelnuts, shortcrust pastry, chocolate cake, raisins, wood, musk. Palate: raisins, hazelnuts, toffee, caramel, milk chocolate, very present wood as a constant background to the other flavors. Final: caramel, at first it seems very short and not particularly consistent, but then there is the miracle: you feel like you have a milk chocolate bar in your mouth that melts slowly. A truly delightful ending. A great whisky at a convenient price! 4.50 rating ____________________________________________________________ Naso: nocciole, pasta frolla, torta al cioccolato, uvetta, legno, muschio. Palato: uvetta, nocciole, toffee, caramello, cioccolato al latte, legno molto presente come sottofondo costante agli altri sapori. Finale: al caramello, all’inizio sembra molto breve e non particolarmente consistente, ma poi ecco lì il miracolo: ti sembra di avere in bocca una barretta di cioccolato al latte che si scioglie lentamente. Davvero un finale godurioso. Un grande whisky con un ottimo prezzo! Voto 4,50

I had a pour of this last night during a tasting hosted by Craigellechie. This was part of the lottery for the 51 yr old tasting, which 150 people around the world got a chance to try. Fortunately @Scott_E was one of them, and I’m thankful I was his guest for the event. So...at the time I really liked this one. It was a more refined smoother version of the 13. Sort of Pierce Brosnan’s Bond as opposed to Daniel Craig’s rough and rugged one. In retrospect though, I prefer the 13 for that rough edge. To me, it’s always commonplace to find smooth balanced single malts, but so much harder to find rough, and really well balanced, ones. That being said...this was damn good. The meaty notes were less pronounced vs the 13, the sulfurous edges smoothed out a bit. I’m glad I tasted this, but I’ll be a buyer of the 13, just for that ruggedness.

Nose - Blueberries, watermelon, apples, spices, vanilla, light florals, almonds…. Palate- Coconut, Pineapples, white pepper, crème brulee, butterscotch, crumble, ginger, slight minerality but meatiness. Sulfur? Best mouthcoat. Finish – Longest, vanilla/white pepper returns, white chocolate, waxiness. Water – N – Brings ginger forward, tea, hay, cereal, barley, oak. P – Spice down, more toffee, caramel, cinnamon, milk chocolate. F- Never dry, black pepper, still long, but prefer neat..maybe.. 4.5 of 5. Excellent! $125-150

Distiller gave this expression one more point than the 23. So did a few people in the comment section on MofM. Well, i'm afraid i have to differ here. Ok, this 17yo is good, special, different from other malts around and in this case a great bottle to reach for when looking for an easy sipper, but in no way could i compare it to the powerful 23 where everything is fruitier, juicier, more complex, well, better...much better imho. still i give this one a solid 4