Cadenhead Original Craigellachie 18 Year

Tasting Notes

Producer Tasting Note

Nose: Dunnage warehouse, stewed raisins, white chocolate buttons, edamame beans.

Flavour: Oily. Leather, dark chocolate, Matcha tea, pistachio.

Finish: Christmas cake, lemon juice, peanut butter, milk chocolate raisins.

Distillery

Originally written by Evan for a blog post related to KWM's 2020 Whisky Calendar.

Let’s start with a side note: Us Canadians are used to a different pronunciation of Craigellachie than the Scots. We also often know it more as the B.C. town where the last spike in the Canada Pacific Railway was driven into railway tie - and we pronounce it something like “Craig-a-latch-key” – if you drop the "k" in “key”. For the proper pronunciation of the Distillery name, the CH in CraigellaCHie is hardened to a “k” sound. I would love to link to the great Brian Cox saying it for our benefit on Youtube, but sadly I don’t think he recorded that one. Instead, here is some other guy saying it.

Craigellachie Distillery resides in Banffshire, Scotland in the heart of Speyside – not too far down the road from both Macallan and Aberlour distilleries, among others. Craigellachie was founded in 1891 and is currently owned by Bacardi under their John Dewar’s and Sons Scotch Whisky Branch. It is one of five Scottish Distilleries own by Bacardi, all of which are bottled under their Last Great Malts line of single malts.

Craigellachie is one of less than 20 distilleries in Scotland operating today to utilize worm tubs to condense the spirit vapours coming up off the neck of the pot stills. From the neck, the spirit vapour flows through a lyne arm that connects to a long line of copper tubing that is submerged in a large vat of cooling water. Though this piping might be lengthy, it doesn’t allow as much copper contact as a more typical spiral tubed condenser would.

The resulting spirit retains more heavy, meaty, sulphury notes that would have been stripped out with increased copper contact. This is what gives Craigellachie its rich, meaty style at such a young age. It is also what makes Craigellachie sought after for blending, just as it does with the likes of Mortlach, Benrinnes and Balmenach – other distilleries that utilize worm tubs. 

Craigellachie is primarily used by Bacardi/Dewar’s for its Dewar’s White Label and other Blended Scotch Whisky the company creates.

Craigellachie is one of only two distilleries to be bottled at a respectable 46% ABV in Bacardi’s Last Great Malts family of single malts – the other being Aultmore. What makes it unique in the line is that all official Craigellachie bottlings thus far have been released with age statements that happen to be prime numbers. There is the 13 Year Old that we will be tasting, as well as ages 17, and 23 years old in the core range. There is also a 19-year-old duty-free bottling and a few older that we haven’t seen much of yet in Alberta: these are 31, 33, 39, and 51 years old respectively.

Independent Bottler

This text is from an article written by Andrew for Celtic Life Magazine in 2017.

As strange as it may sound, it is only in the last three to five decades that most distilleries have seen fit to bottle their own whiskies as single malts. Prior to that, the vast majority of whiskies distilled in Scotland were produced almost exclusively for blends. With few exceptions, most of the available single malts prior to the 1970s were bottled by independent bottlers like Gordon Macphail and WM Cadenhead. Distilleries like Glenfiddich, Macallan, Glenmorangie, Bowmore and Glenlivet began bottling their whiskies as single malts and exporting them globally, in the 1960s. Other distilleries would follow in the 1970s, 80s, and 90s. Some products - like John Dewar & Sons’ “The Last Great Malts” series - have only been launched in the last few years.

Independent bottlings are whiskies bottled by a third party and not the distillery which produced them. Not all distilleries actually bottle their whiskies as single malts and many that do, have limited ranges. Independent bottlings fill this niche in the market, generally releasing single casks and small batch single malts that can vary enormously from the distillery’s core offering. If you are a devoted single malt aficionado, chances are you’ve come across more than a few independent bottlings in your day. If you haven’t yet dipped your toes into the world of independent bottlings, then you may be missing out on some of the world’s finest whisky, and it is high time you took a look at what they have to offer.

The oldest - and one of the finest - of all the independents is WM Cadenhead’s. Established in 1842, Cadenhead’s, as they are affectionately known, is a stubbornly traditional firm, with an exceptional range of whiskies. Along with Gordon Macphail, Cadenhead’s is one of Scotland’s best independent bottlers, with a range of old whiskies that is envied by the rest of the industry. Until the last few years, Cadenhead whiskies were only available from their network of shops in the U.K. and Europe. The Small Batch line was created four years ago to satiate selected whisky specialists around the world, and to distribute the company’s aging overstock.

WM Cadenhead was acquired by J.A. Mitchell & Co. in 1972, the family-owned firm which also owns the Springbank and Glengyle distilleries. After acquiring Cadenhead’s, and its stocks of maturing whisky, Hedley Wright - J.A. Mitchell’s colourful chairman and owner - is said to have spent the next few decades wandering Scotland with his check book. Wright made frequent visits to “his friends” at various distilleries across Scotland, purchasing casks as he went. Hedley kept track of his acquisitions on a series of ledgers, releasing casks bit by bit to the team at Cadenhead’s for bottling. To this day, the firm doesn’t even know the full extent of the casks they are sitting on. However, so long as Hedley keeps the flow of rare and old whiskies coming, Cadenhead’s will continue to be one of Scotland’s most interesting independent bottlers.

Today, Cadenhead’s is headquartered in the scenic coastal town of Campbeltown on the Kintyre Peninsula, within walking distance from its sister businesses, the Springbank and Glengyle (Kilkerran) distilleries. The Cadenhead’s Shop and Whisky Tasting Room serves as a visitor center and retailer for the three brands. They offer daily tours and tastings Monday to Saturday. While Springbank Distillery may be the main draw, the Cadenhead Warehouse tour is not to be missed. Mark and or Cameron will take you into the bowels of a dark, dingy old dunnage warehouse to sample some stunning whiskies, right out of the cask.

Campbeltown is a bit of a trek, 4 hours by car from Glasgow, near the end of the Kintyre Peninsula. The town is charming, with much to see in the surrounding area, justifying at least a two-day visit. The world-famous Machrihanish Dunes Golf Course is just ten minutes away. In my opinion, Campbeltown is best seen in conjunction with the islands and Arran, Islay (and Jura) over a week-long tour. Caledonian Macbrayne, Scotland’s west coast ferry service, has a special pass for just such a route, called a Hop Scotch. But if Campbeltown is just too far to go, keep your eye open for one of the many other Cadenhead shops in Edinburgh, London, and across Europe. In Canada, Cadenhead Small Batch whiskies can be purchased from Kensington Wine Market in Calgary.

Cadenhead is celebrating its 175th Anniversary in 2017, so let’s raise a glass for their continued good spirits!