Cragganmore - Speyside - {Complex Depth}
Food suggestion: Why not try Cragganmore with sausages or meat pies?
Taste style: Complex. Complex malts will gently unlock their aroma and taste secrets.
Speyside today is widely revered for its sublime malt whiskies and for its fine salmon fishing. About thirty miles by twenty, this fertile triangle of land between mountain and sea has long been known as the Garden of Scotland.
Barley is naturally a major crop, and the presence of Scotland's fastest flowing river - together with peat from the uplands to the south - was the reason original Cragganmore owner 'Big' John Smith felt that it would be the perfect place for the perfect distillery.
And who could argue with his genius? Successive managers of Cragganmore have strived to continue his vision to deliver the sweetest, most complex malt whiskies: fruity, honeyed notes are often found. And many a taster of has talked lyrically of fruitcake and toffee flavours.
"One of Speyside's greats. Elegant and austere. Gradually, almost reluctantly, reveals itself. The most fragrant of whiskies: delicate, herbal, flowery. A palate blossoming with flavours, and a long, lingering, finish." Michael Jackson, whisky writer and expert.
The Distillery - Although still only 36 years old, John Smith was a legend deserving of his motto by the time he came to this hidden place by the Spey in 1869.
When a very young man, twenty or more years before, he was already manager at Macallan. He went on to be commissioning manager at Glenlivet in 1858 then, after a spell away from Speyside at the Clydesdale distillery in Wishaw, returning as the lessee of Glenfarclas in 1865.
All the while, you suspect, this giant of a man (he weighed by various estimates anything up to 364 lbs.) had in mind the building of his own, definitive distillery on Speyside.
Leasing from Sir George Macpherson-Grant a site formerly used by illicit distillers at Ayeon Farm, part of the Ballindalloch Castle estate, he chose his time and place well. No new distillery had been built hereabouts for as many as twenty years, yet a boom was being enjoyed in whisky consumption.
Not only this, but Smith's chosen landlord was a major shareholder in the new railway; he built the distillery with a private siding in the confident expectation of increased freight traffic. Half a mile from the Strathspey railway at Ballindalloch Station, this was the first Speyside distillery sited to take advantage of railway transport. Designed by the experienced Elgin architect Charles Doig, the new distillery buildings were hewn from hard, granite-like 'greenstone'. This was quarried from the 1600-foot hill of Cragan Mor, from which the distillery name comes. Most of the annual output of around 100,000 gallons was immediately sold on to James Watson of Dundee for blending.
On John Smith's death in 1886, his 14-year-old son Gordon was too young to take over the business. John Smith's brother, George, oversaw it until Gordon's maturity - during which time Cragganmore became the first distillery site on Speyside to take advantage of railway transport. In 1887 - one year after John Smith's death - the first-ever 'whisky special' train left Ballindalloch with a load of 16,000 gallons.
Unusually, young Gordon Smith learned his trade in South Africa before taking control in 1893. In 1901, he rebuilt the entire distillery in the form we know today, though in keeping with tradition, the two pairs of flat-top stills (designed by John Smith himself) were preserved. Through later changes of ownership and two world wars, Cragganmore continued to produce a complex, highly prized malt, which in 1925 was rated by blenders the leading malt for blending in all Speyside.
Cragganmore 12 yr. old - Nestling on the banks of the legendary salmon river, Cragganmore is, for many, the home of the definitive Speyside malt.
Strength:40% ABV
Appearance:Gold.
Nose:A complex of sweet floral fragrances, riverside herbs and flowers with some honey and vanilla. 'The most complex nose of any malt whisky' (Jackson).
Body:Firm, rounded, light to medium.
Palate:A strong malty taste with hints of sweet wood smoke and sandalwood.
Finish:A long malt-driven finish with light smoke and hints of sweetness.
Cragganmore Distiller's Edition - The complexity of Cragganmore prescribed an out-of-the-ordinary choice for a secondary cask finish. Port-wine finish successfully provides the perfectly harmonious partner.
Strength:40% ABV
Appearance:Pale amber.
Palate:The mouth is swamped with fruity flavours of cherries and oranges leading to rich tastes of Port-wine and malt, with lingering smoke.
Finish:Long finish is breathtaking, with a toffee-sweet start and a dry slightly smoky finish. Intriguingly multi-layered malt.
Cragganmore 1993 10 yr. old - Cask Strength - A limited edition natural cask strength from Bodega European Oak casks. Drier than the classic 12 year old expression. Fantastic contrast with the 29 year old release.
Strength:60.1% ABV
Appearance:Bright pale amber.
Palate:Attractive sweetness. Fruity acidity. Spiciness and digestive biscuits. Arouses the appetite.
Finish:Lingering nutty, urbane, bittersweet.