Single Malt Oloroso Hogshead 'Full Cask' No 137
⏳ Drinking Window
Ready to enjoy upon release, as single malt Scotch whisky does not mature further in the bottle. Once opened, it is best consumed within 1 to 2 years to preserve its complex aromatic profile.
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
blue cheese, dark chocolate, sticky toffee pudding
✨ Technical Specifications
Craigellachie is famously known as the rebel of Speyside due to its stubborn adherence to traditional, old-school whisky-making methods. While most modern distilleries have transitioned to efficient shell-and-tube condensers, Craigellachie defiantly retains its copper worm tubs. These cold-water tanks house coiled copper pipes that rapidly condense the spirit vapor, minimizing copper contact and leaving a heavy, muscular, and sulfurous character in the new-make spirit. When this robust, meaty spirit is matured in an Oloroso sherry hogshead, a fascinating alchemy occurs. The intense, nutty, and dried-fruit sweetness of the sherry-seasoned European oak wrestles with the savory, oily, and slightly smoky distillate. Cask No 137 represents a single-cask expression where this tension reaches a harmonious peak, offering an uncompromisingly complex dram that honors the distillery's founding in 1891 by Peter Mackie and Alexander Edward.
🍾 About the Producer
Established in 1891 by whisky pioneers Peter Mackie and Alexander Edward, Craigellachie Distillery commands a prominent position on a rocky outcrop overlooking the confluence of the Rivers Spey and Fiddich. Designed by renowned Victorian architect Charles Doig, the distillery purposely eschews contemporary distillation trends, championing an archaic, full-bodied spirit style. Drawing soft processing water from the nearby Blue Hill, the distillery employs oil-fired maltings, traditional wooden washbacks, and distinctive exterior copper worm tub condensers. By restricting copper-to-vapor contact during condensation, Craigellachie captures robust, heavy, and sulphurous aromatic compounds that evolve into a uniquely muscular single malt marked by savoury, meaty notes accented by luscious tropical pineapple. Under parent owner Bacardi (John Dewar & Sons) and multi-award-winning Malt Master Stephanie Macleod, the distillery balances its legacy role in premium blends with benchmark age-stated single malts—notably its core 13-Year-Old, 17-Year-Old, and rare vintage cask bottlings—all presented non-chill-filtered at natural strength.
🍇 Base Material
Malted Barley 100%