Craigellachie 13 Years

Craigellachie 13 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky

Next up is a Craigellachie 13 Year old single malt scotch.  My first foray into this bottle dates back to the early pandemic, around June/July 2020.  I decided to spend the summer expanding my entry-level scotch horizons by purchasing and tasting every (not quite every, but you know what I mean) $60ish bottle of scotch I could find.  Like most folks, I found myself repeat-buying the same few bottles over and over and I wanted to see what else was out there.  I saw the bottle of Craigellachie on the shelf and it looked very “old timey” but it was also a 13 year old priced at $55 so I figured what the heck.  As I’m trying to mix in more entry-level bottles with my reviews, it seemed about time that I returned to the Craigellachie 13.

ABV: 46%

How it smells…honeyed berries, brassy, earthy peat

How it tastes….sweet on the start with some biscuity malt towards the middle.  The end is semisweet chocolate with some honey and a sweet/spicy lingering finish.  There’s that earthy peaty undertone throughout the sip.

Price…. $56

Rating...🥃🥃🥃🥃🥃

Final thoughts….I really like this scotch.  Owned by Bacardi and used primarily as a blending scotch in Dewars, this is not a mainstream scotch by any leap of the imagination and  I tend to only see this particular release and various releases from independent bottlers.   I do appreciate that they seem to be maintaining a very attractive price point for this release although I’m sure someone will correct me and say that it used to be $30 way back when…. However, for a cheap 13 year old, the price dramatically jumps for the other two of its core releases, the 17 year old ($175 last I saw it) and the 23 year old ($315).  I am very interested to try these latter two releases, but as they are getting up there in the price point, I might have to wait a bit and focus my efforts on just the 17 year old.

Overall, I found this sip to be sweet throughout the taste, but not overly sweet, just a gentle soft sweetness balanced with some peppery spice at the end.  The maltiness starts out mild in the middle and accentuates to a darker, more semisweet chocolate towards the end.  There’s also an underlying earthiness to it without a heavy handed peatiness.

Value wise, I am going with 5x 🥃.  Many might think this is a bit overzealous (my wife included) but it was a really nice sip (assuming you like a bit of that earthy/peaty flavor) and the price is amazing, especially for a 13 year old scotch in today’s market.  I will warn that after doing the tasting I searched the internet to see what other folks thought and my tasting notes are VERY DIFFERENT than what others got out of it.  The one note which I have to agree with is “sulphuric” which is what I described as earthy peatiness.    I don’t think this will be for everyone, especially those that prefer the sherry bombs or just something that is a bit of an easy drinker.  But for those that like to explore, this is a nice one to try that won’t break the bank.