In 1923 the Glenlivet Distillery Co. Ltd. became the new owners of the Cragganmore distillery.
This parent company was owned in equal parts by two parties; the Ballindalloch Estate and White Horse
Distillers Ltd. Gordon Smith remained manager for thirty years until the sale in 1923. The White Horse
shares were transferred to DCL in 1927 and all remaining shares were eventually acquired by DCL by
the year 1968. This last change in ownership took place not long after the number of stills was
extended from two to four. Cragganmore was eventually 'inherited' by Diageo when United Distillers
(UD) and International Distillers and Vintners (IDV) merged by the end of the second millennium.

The Cragganmore distillery was built in 1869-1870 by one John Smith
(what's in a name, right?) who had previously been involved with the
Glenfarclas, Macallan and Glenlivet distilleries. That wasn't his only claim
to fame; John was the youngest son of George Smith who founded the
Glenlivet distillery. John Smith's trustees continued the operation between
1886 & 1893, after which John's son Gordon took over as manager of the
distillery. Cragganmore was rebuilt in 1902 and sold two decades later.

Cragganmore is Gaelic for great rock. John Smith ordered the construction
of a railroad track to the Ballindalloch railway station when he built the
distillery. Just a few years later Cragganmore became the first distillery
in Scotland to transport their whisky efficiently by railway.

The development of the railway network in the UK was important
to many distilleries in Scotland. It allowed raw materials like barley
and coal to be delivered to the distillery easily and affordably - not
unimportant if you know how inaccessible parts of the Highlands
were before the train was invented. Even better; the whisky that
was produced with these raw materials could be easily trasported
to the main markets for Scotch whisky in England and abroad.

That's (partly) why John Smith built his new distillery near Ayeon Farm along the Strathspey railway line.
It's a shame visitors can't drop by the distillery for a visit, but if you happen to be in the area the Glenfarclas distillery
is nearby - and they do welcome visitors who made an appointment.

In 1967 the number of stills at Cragganmore doubled from two to four.
Both wash stills are 'lantern' models while the spirit stills are the 'boiling ball' type.
Both spirit stills have flat (T-shaped) tops instead of the usual 'swan necks'. This shape supposedly
increases the 'reflux' of condensed spirits inside the stills; part op the vapour trickles down again
to be re-distilled. This, in turn, produces a smoother spirit. Interestingly enough, Cragganmore still
uses ' worm tubs'. Most distilleries have now turned to other cooling solutions but when I write this
five out of the six distilleries in Diageo's original 'classic malts' range (nowadays expanced) still use
worm tubs for cooling purposes: Cragganmore, Dalwhinnie, Glenkinchie, Oban and Talisker.
The only exception within the 'Classic Malts' range of six can be found on Islay; it's Lagavulin.

Cragganmore uses lightly smoked malt. Just like most other distilleries Cragganmore doesn't have its own maltings anymore; their malt is obtained from one of Diageo's central maltings. A lauter mash tun was installed in 1997. The copper top and wood along the sides are purely 'cosmetic'; the business end is made of stainless steel. All six washbacks are made from European larch.

1) The distillery is located in Ballindalloch, close to where the rivers Spey, Avon and Livet meet.

2) The spirit at Cragganmore is filled into bourbon casks which are stored in the three on-site warehouses. Bottling is done in Leven, Fife three kilometres due east of Glenrothes.

3) Cragganmore was part of Diageo's original series of 6 'Classic Malts', together with Dalwhinnie, Glenkinchie, Lagavulin, Oban and Talisker. This series was first released in 1988. Around 2005 a bunch of other distilleries were added to the range of 'classic malts'; Caol Ila, Cardhu, Clynelish, Glen Elgin, Glen Ord, Knockando & Royal Lochnagar.

4) Do you know of any more trivial trivia about Cragganmore?
Why don't you drop me a note so I can share it with the rest of the whisky world through this page?

Here's a selection of the bottles of Cragganmore I've tried so far;

Cragganmore 10yo 1993/2004 (60.1%, OB, Bodega European oak casks, 15000 Bottles)
Nose: Faint spices and a whiff of smoke. A lot going on in the background. Slightest touch of perfume?
Seems bigger and sweeter in the nose than during round one. Very alcoholic, but nice. Bakery aroma's.
Taste: Soft for a microsecond, quickly powering up. Sweet and fruity. Excellent mouth feel. Long, dry finish.
Central heating for the palate. Reminds me a little bit of the Glenfarclas 105, although this seems lighter.
Liquorice on the palate. Potent and pleasant, but perhaps not quite HIGHLY recommendable.
Score: 84 points - although I should add that the high proof might have lifted my spirits a bit.

Cragganmore 12yo (40%, OB, Bottled +/- 2003, L15T00687045)
Nose: Smooth and a bit spicy. Then it grows maltier. Spices & organics grow stronger. 
Faintly fruity and flowery. Malty. Very light liquorice? A little bit of everything, really.
Taste: Weak, watery start. Dry and pretty flat. Fairly bitter. Oy, that's too bad...
Score: 78 points - better than average, but not quite as good as two earlier batches I tried.

Cragganmore 1988/2002 Distillers Edition (40%, OB, CggD-6553) has been finished in a 'special' cask, just like the other expressions in UDV's 'Double Matured' range. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
Nose: Sherried and very fruity. Apples? Ginger? Strawberries? Much heavier than the 12yo.
A faint hint of peat after five minutes? Beer-like prickle in the back. Good balance.
Taste: Watery and woody. Fruitier towards the centre. Astringent, oaky finish.
Score: 80 points - double maturation has infused the Cragganmore with some extra weight & wisdom.

Cragganmore 12yo 1990/2002 (46%, MMcD, MM 1416, Bourbon).
Nose: Grassy and flowery - like a mountain meadow in Spring. Spicy prickle. Hint of honey?
It starts off smooth and friendly but becomes grainier and oilier. The bourbon takes centre stage.
Taste: Rough start. Flat centre. Hot, woody finish. Beer? Hint of eucalyptus? Too dry, too bad.
Score: 74 points - the nose is very pleasant but the palate drags it down below 'average'.

Cragganmore 13yo 1989/2002 (46%, Signatory Unchillfiltered, Oak Cask #962, 375 Bottles)
Nose: Surprisingly light and flowery, before becoming creamier and fruitier. Smoke?
Is that citrus? Stale beer? Farmy notes. It completely falls apart after two minutes.
It makes a quiet comeback after a few more minutes. Spices and organics. Sorrel?
Given time it grows ever more complex. This malt needs some time to reveal itself.
Taste: Bittersweet start, growing smoother and fruitier towards the centre. Malty.
Not terribly complex, but endearing enough to make up for the weak moment in the nose.
Score: 82 points - the nose has some weak moments, but the palate keeps it in the 80's.
I have to admit I'd prefer this over the 12yo OB - it just has much more body at 46%.

Cragganmore-Glenlivet 14yo 1989/2003 (46%, Cadenhead's, Sherry)
Nose:  Smooth. Honey. Heather? Fairly subtle sherry influence. Cookies? Toffee?
Not very expressive at first, but it definitely opens up with time. Faint organics
Taste: Watery, fragmented start. Slightly sweet. Hot and a little soapy. Burning.
Score: 81 points - my initial score of 78 points for the first dram was too conservative. On closer inspection this one showed plenty of redeeming qualities, especially after time. Maybe it's a tad too subtle for me, but if you give it time there's lots of fun to be had. With a matching palate it might even have scored in the upper 80's.

Cragganmore 1976/1993 (53.8%, G&M, Casks 3588-3591)
Nose: Spicy and flowery with a light touch on honey - or maybe nectar? Mighty complex.
Opens up nicely with time. Toffee. Sherry and organics. Peppers? Spicy black Chinese beans.
Taste: Toffee sweetness. Big burn, but drinkable at cask strength. Pleasant mouth feel.
Strong bittersweet centre. Responds well to water, becoming sweeter and smoother.
Score: 85 points - leaning towards 86. This is the best Cragganmore I've ever had.

Cragganmore 1973 (40%, G&M Connoisseurs Choice, Bottled +/- 1990) was an oldie.
Nose: Fruits on the top of the nose, with an undercurrent with more organics. Tea.
Sweet and creamy elements, but there's a distracting perfumy off-note as well.
That's not all - the perfumy element seems to grow stronger over time.
There's a lot going on beneath the surface, but the perfume overpowers all.
Taste: Ooooh! Perfumy start, quickly settling down into a fruitier centre.
Once I get such a heavy punch of perfume on the palate I'm out for the count.
Score: 74 points - the nose has many appealing elements, but the perfume drags it down.
 

These were not all the (official and independent) expressions of Cragganmore whisky I've tried over the years.
My Track Record used to contain a complete overview of all the single malts I've tried, but when I passed the 2000 malts mark (and the complete whisky list wouldn't fit on two separate HTML pages anymore) I gave up. My Liquid Log still contains my tasting notes on most single malts I've sampled and scored, though. You can find a specific expression through the search box at the top of each distillery profile. The mAlmanac now contains (purely personal) selections of some of the best single malts and the worst whiskies I've tried so far - as well as the ones with the highest 'Bang-For-Your-Buck' value. But those tasting notes and scores only reflect my own, purely personal opinions. On Serge's distillery profile on Whiskyfun you can find another perspective on the whisky made at this distillery. Check out the Malt Maniacs Monitor on Malt Maniacs for my scores on all expressions I've tried so far - and those of almost all the other certified malt maniacs as well. The Malt Maniacs Matrix contains a few thousand single malts that were sampled and scored by at least four different malt maniacs, so you can compare our individual opinions.