Review by: dustbunna
Distillery: Craigellachie.
Bottler: Signatory Vintage.
Region: Speyside, Scotland.
ABV: 57.1%.
Age: 16 years. Distilled in 2007. Bottled in 2024.
Cask type: First-fill Oloroso sherry butt maturation.
Price: £61 GBP for 700mL.
Natural Color. Non-chill-filtered.
Bottle open across approx. 6 months, notes taken leisurely across that period. Bold notes taken beneath the shoulder, regular-formatted notes taken further into the bottle past the halfway point, italicized notes taken towards the heel.
Nose: chocolate, herbs, cooked red fruits, a hint of gunpowder, white pepper, roasted almonds in the background, bog mud, spearmint, nettles, cinnamon.
Palate: medium-full body ~ more chocolate and white pepper, nutmeg, oak tannins, forest fruit jam, tobacco leaf, bright red fruits (simmered strawberries and cranberries.)
Finish: medium length ~ on various spices, minerals, more oak tannins, herbs, spearmint, dead leaves and broken branches, cinnamon, strawberry jam, oregano.
Conclusion: The more I try from Craigellachie, the more I love what they’re doing. This was a really high quality sherry cask, and Craigellachie’s stout and characterful spirit 100% held up to it, opening up all kinds of herbal and strawberry/cranberry jam notes with a tannin/spice structure that was present but in no way distracting. Really good value, too, in line with all the SV 100 Proof releases. Signatory seems to really be firing on all cylinders right now, I can’t wait to see what comes next from this series.
Final Score: 87.
Scoring Legend:
- 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky.
- 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category.
- 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram.
- 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff.
- 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting.
- 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better.
- 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink.
- 50-59: Save it for mixing.
- 0-49: Blech.
Malt Runners 