Craigellachie 13 Review

Throughout most of its history, Craigellachie has produced malt whisky primarily to be used in blended whisky—most notably Dewar’s—with very few official single malt expressions. That changed a bit starting in 2014, when the distillery released a series of new official bottlings, including 13 year, 17 year, and 23 year expressions, with others expressions having since followed. Although it’s still primarily a blender’s malt, Craigellachie is quickly becoming a single malt of some renown. In fact, the distillery’s 31 year old expression was named World’s Best Single Malt in the 2017 World Whiskies Awards, quite the prestigious honor.

Craigellachie is one of the relatively few distilleries in Scotland which still uses a worm tub to cool alcohol vapor into liquid, the final step of the distillation process. Using a worm tub—as opposed to the more modern approach of a shell-and-tube condenser—results in a heavier, more savory spirit, with a higher amount of sulphur. Sulphur compounds are a naturally occurring byproduct of the whisky making process, and while too much sulphur may harm a whisky, the right amount can enhance its character, especially when it comes to the meaty type of characteristics some of us love in classic single malts (such as Mortlach, for instance).

Although worm tubs may seem antiquated and rare, there are actually more distilleries still using a worm tub than you might think. For instance, about 1/3 of all of Diageo’s single malt distilleries use a worm tub, including all of their “Classic Malts” distilleries other than Lagavulin. Nonetheless, I feel like Craigellachie embodies the worm tub character more than most, as their single malt (at least from what I’ve tried) tends to be exactly what you’d expect from a worm tub whisky—big, meaty, savory, and complex. Plus the distillery likes to play up their use of worm tubs, to the extent where there is a brief explanation and illustration of a worm tub on the back of the bottle of Craigellachie 13.

The 13 year old is Craigellachie’s entry level expression, priced at a very reasonable level for an age stated, non chill-filtered, 46% ABV single malt. Let’s take a closer look.

Craigellachie 13 Review

Type: Single Malt Scotch
Region: Speyside
ABV: 46%
Non chill-filtered

Nose

Lemon custard and key lime pie. Butterscotch and salted caramel. Vanilla cream. Milk chocolate. A touch floral, with hints of lavender. Newly baled hay. Melted butter. White wine. Deli meats.

Palate

Big, full, and fairly complex. Honey. Vanilla. Lemon custard. Marzipan. Sour funk. Cereal grains. Rich, roasted maltiness. Fresh banana. Apple juice. Sulphuric meatiness, with hints of salami and roast beef. Chocolate covered coffee beans. Hints of faded sherry oak.

Finish

Medium to long, with lingering sweetness. Marzipan. Key lime pie. Baked pineapple. Banana Runts. Brown sugar. A touch of chocolate. A little malty, a little funky, a little sour.

Overall

Fruity and funky, savory and sour, Craigellachie 13 is a robust dram with quite a bit of complexity. The sour notes are more pronounced when the bottle is initially opened—exposure to air seems to knock some of these notes out, but they still remain lurking a bit. And I should be clear—this is a good type of sour. The type of funky sourness that holds your attention and brings everything together, not the type of sour that makes you think something is wrong with the product.

This is really quite an enjoyable single malt. It’s not peated and it’s not heavily sherried (although I think there is a small sherry influence), so it doesn’t tend to get as much attention as the Ardbegs, Springbanks, or Macallans of the world, but it is a dram with a ton of old time Scotch whisky character and complexity. Throw in the fact that it’s very reasonably priced, and the end result is a fantastic bottle that I highly recommend.

SCORE: 87/100

Final Thoughts

In my opinion, Craigellachie 13 is the best value in single malt whisky. Less than $50 for a 13 year old, NCF, 46% ABV single malt with loads of character and complexity? Sign me up. But let’s throw price out of the equation for a minute. Because this isn’t good just because it’s inexpensive. It’s simply good. It’s also not what I would consider a true entry level whisky, as I would not recommend a newcomer to single malts to start here. This a fairly challenging dram, not an easy drinker. But it’s quite rewarding when you take your time and savor it.

Buy Again? Yes. One of the best value malts out there. I’ve gone through several bottles of Craigellachie 13 over the past few years, and almost always keep a bottle at home.

Drink This Not That: If you’re looking for a big, meaty, robust whisky that won’t break the bank, drink this. You’re not going to find many better single malts in this price range.

Questions about my scoring system? Refer to the Review Method & Scoring Scale page.

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