Craigellachie 2011/2024 - 13 yo - #7540775 - Octave (Duncan Taylor) - Germany

Volume: 0.7 litres | Alcohol content: 54.5% | Chill filtration: No | Colouring: No

Special Features:

A five-month finish in a small ex-sherry Octave shapes this single malt from The Octave range. The whisky was distilled at Craigellachie in 2011 and initially matured for twelve years in oak casks. It then spent its finishing period in Octave number 7540775, with a capacity of around 50 litres. In 2024, Duncan Taylor bottled the thirteen-year-old whisky at a cask strength of 54.5%. This single-cask bottling for the German market yielded 75 bottles of 0.7 litres each and is neither chill-filtered nor coloured.

Fruit, malt and nuts define the interplay of flavours: apple, blackberry and apricot sit alongside nutmeg and cashew, while caramel, walnut and cinnamon add to the taste. The bottling also offers creamy impressions of almond butter and Greek yoghurt, together with notes of ground coffee and white pepper.

Tasting Notes:

• Nose: The nose offers ripe apples, blackberries and candied apricots. Creamy malt sweets, nutmeg and mild cashews complement the fruit.
• Palate: The whisky is full-bodied on the palate. Malt biscuits, roasted walnuts and oat biscuits mingle with raisins, caramel cream, cherries and cinnamon; the walnuts lend a bitter edge to the sweetness.
• Finish: Juicy fruit and gentle spice linger through the long finish. The aftertaste is warm, with a hint of oak.

Distillery/Bottler:

Craigellachie stands in the heart of Speyside above the confluence of the Fiddich and Spey. Designed by Charles Doig, the distillery was built under Alexander Edward and Peter Mackie and began production in 1891. It still condenses alcohol vapour in traditional worm tubs: long copper pipes run through cold-water tanks outside the stillhouse. This method contributes to the distillery's robust, meaty house style.

Duncan Taylor is the independent bottler behind this edition. The company has its own cask warehouses, cooperage and bottling facility in Huntly. For The Octave, it selects single malts and single grains and gives them several months of additional maturation in small sherry Octaves. This Craigellachie bottling thus combines spirit from the Speyside distillery with a carefully chosen additional maturation stage.

Facts: