During the years that followed ownership passed to Peter Mackie (in 1916),
the Distillery Company Limited (in 1927) and SMD (in 1930). The transfer
to SMD marked the beginning of a period of stability for Craigellachie; apart
from a reconstruction in 1964-65 during which the number of stills was
doubled, relatively little happened at the distillery. Then, in 1998, the
Craigellachie distillery was sold to John Dewar & Sons - owners of MacDuff
and Aberfeldy - and themselves part of the Bacardi drinks conglomerate.

The Craigellachie distillery was built in 1891 by Craigellachie Distillery Co
Limited, a group of blenders and merchants led by Alexander Edward. Two
years later (1893) it was incorporated as a limited company and in 1896 it
was reconstructed as Craigellachie-Glenlivet Distillery Ltd.

The name Craigellachie
means 'rocky hill' and
refers to the cliff that
overlooks the Spey.
Much of the village
was built on this cliff.

Craigellachie isn't a 'high profile' distillery by any stretch of the imagination.
In fact, the nearby town of Craigellachie and the Craigellachie Hotel are probably more famous than the distillery. Several malt maniacs visited the hotel and spoke very highly of it.

The location of the town in the heart of the Speyside region (where the rivers Fiddich and Spey meet) makes it an excellent location for a 'base camp' for whisky hunters. Another point of touristic interest is the Speyside Cooperage Visitor Centre. The Craigellachie distillery itself (most of it fairly 'functional' as it was refurbushed in the 1960's) does not have a visitor centre, but most whisky tourists will most likely be more interested in that other distillery in Craigellachie anyway; Macallan. The Macallan distillery is located on the
other side of the river Spey, west of the village.

A 14yo official bottling of Craigellachie was
released in 2004, replacing the semi-official
'Flora & Fauna' expression that was bottled
by United Distillers at the same age.

The town dates back to before 1750 when
records show that there was a ferry across
the river Spey. The ferry was eventually
replaced by Craigellachie Bridge, built by
one Thomas Telford in 1814 (see picture).

1) Just outside Craigellachie is the Speyside Cooperage where each year over 100,000 casks are produced to be used at one of the many distilleries in the Speyside region.

2) More trivia about Craigallachie will be added later...
 

Craigellachie 1983/1994 (43%, Vintage Choice)
Nose: Peculiar aroma. Very light at first. Sweetish, with a little smoke and oil. Fruitier after a few minutes.
Taste: Sweet start with a hint of peat and smoke. Lacks complexity. Unpleasant bitterness, dry finish.
A sharp bite, but quickly gone. The nose isn't too bad but the taste is just too harsh.
Score: 65 points - this won't convert many blend drinkers to single malts...

Craigellachie 12yo (43%, Master of Malt, 95/547, Bottled 1990's)
Nose: You can really 'smell the age' on this one. Well balanced, growing sweeter and spicier.
Antiquity. The nose has something I can only describe as 'inbetween oily and organics'.
Taste: It had some very subtle fruits and appeared a little bit dry. Unripe nectarines. Violets.
Score: 77 points - quite decent. A nice dram but hardly spectacular on the palate.

Craigellachie 1982/1996 (40%, Connoisseur's Choice, Old map label)
Nose: Mild and malty. Hint of apple. The familiar CC 'middle of the road' profile.
Hints of spices and oil - and something faintly 'veggy' or grassy I can't specify.
It grows a tad smokier over time, but it never really develops a personality.
To bad I can't really add water at this strength - it'll ruin the palate for me.
Taste: Smooth, sweetish. Just a tad too bitter, dry and dusty in the finish.
Score: 75 points - not bad, but not very good either. So, that would be 'average'...

Craigellachie 1987 (40%, G&M Connoisseurs Choice, 5cl, JJ/AB Mirrored)
Nose: Oily. Dentist. Herbal. Rust? Quite interesting - reminds me a bit of Hillside or Glenesk.
It grows very grassy over time - like a freshly mown lawn. The first time I ever found that!
More cooked vegetables with time. Maybe a faint hint of smoke? Maybe even menthol?
Not really my kind of profile, but it wears its heart on its sleeve, which is commendable.
Over time it sweetens out and I have to admit I actually quite liked the nose in the end.
Taste: Oy... An oiliness I don't like too much - but it's livened up by a peppery punch.
It's cool on the palate. It loses a few points right away and time isn't very kind to it.
Score: 79 points - which doesn't really reflect how I've grown to like the unique nose.
In fact, it's an average between a fresh (mid-80's) nose and a tired (mid-70's) palate.

Craigellachie 1988 (40%, G&M Connoisseurs Choice, 5cl, JC/AJA Mirrored)
Nose: Creamy and much sweeter than the 1987. Spicier as well. Sweet menthol & mint.
Then liquorice root. Fresher and more 'optimistic' than the '87 - very different altogether.
After a few minutes I got a very faint perfumy note. Shandy? Water melon? Is that marzipan?
Some more breathing produces some more fruity and 'earthy' tones and I even got some peat.
Taste: Hey, no sweetness at first. It quickly emerges though - subtle like flower nectar.
It slowly fades away again, leveling out. Not mid-80's material like the nose suggests.
Score: 80 points - if it hadn't been for a few weak spots it might have made 82 or 83.
In the end it gets almost the same score as the 1987, but it's a very different malt.

Craigellachie 1974 (40%, G&M Connoisseurs Choice, Bottled 1990's).
Nose: Starts off quite sharp, but after a while more sherry notes emerge that soften it up a little bit.
Over time it grows a little spicier and nuttier, but it remains 'MOTR'.
Taste: It was distinctly 'middle of the road' on the palate as well. A little woody, not much more to tell.
Score: 75 points - an average malt so let's go with that most 'average' of scores...

Craigellachie 21yo 1973 'Drumbowie' (53.5%, The Whisky Connoisseur, Bottled +/- 1994).
Nose: Starts fruity, sweet & sherried. Turkish delight. Spices. Some organics as well, growing stronger.
This is a lovely dram for the nose. On the palate it started out a little perfumy, sweetening out over time.
When I got some liquorice in there it warmed my Dutch hart. So, this does quite well on the palate as well.
Score: 86 points - making it the best Craigellachie I've ever tried...

These were not all the (official and independent) expressions of Craigellachie 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.