Cragganmore 12 year old review

Cragganmore distillery is located in Ballindalloch, Speyside. It sits by the River Spey and it’s also near to the Strathspey railway line, both important factors when the distillery location was decided. The distillery takes its name from the mountain in whose shadow it sits.

Cragganmore is part of the Classic Malts brand by Diageo. They use lightly peated malt but it doesn’t come from their own maltings anymore because
malted barley is provided by Diageo’s central maltings. Cragganmore uses traditional worm tubs as the cooling solution for their whisky. 5 out of 6 of Diageo’s Classic Malts distilleries use worm tubs for cooling: Cragganmore, Dalwhinnie, Glenkinchie, Oban and Talisker, only exception is Lagavulin.

Cragganmore range includes this 12 year old single malt and Distillers Edition. They’ve had special bottlings, such as the 14 year old for Friends of the Classic Malts. Cragganmore 12YO has been matured in second fill bourbon barrels and like mentioned, the whisky is slightly smoky. This malt is also a component for Johnnie Walker, Old Parr and White Horse blended whiskies.

By The River (Spey)

Experimental feature length documentary By The River comes to mind when thinking about the roots of Cragganmore distillery and this core range whisky. In that documentary a young man travels by train and gathers sounds and conversations about life, creativity and personal growth. By the river and by train, exactly the key factors when this distillery was founded.

Matured in:

2nd fill Ex-Bourbon barrels

ABV: 40%

Colour: Golden amber

Nose: Cinnamon apples and earthy and grassy notes. Very floral and aromatic, with some honey notes nicely presented. Addition of water tones down these sophisticated aromas a bit, leaving traces of sweet honey behind.

Taste: Very earthy, smooth and bit sweet. Red fruits and sugary barley. Slightly bitter. Drops of water add crispy honey and cereal notes.

Finish: Sweet honey with spicy and rubbery twist. Oak tannins. Hints of smoke buried in there as well. Turns very dry very late in the aftertaste.

Balance: Light and smooth Speysider with a small edge. Quite tasty and versatile, easy to drink but has character. Still it’s missing something, needs more texture. Bigger alcohol by volume and unchill-filtered would probably do the trick.