Scotland, Speyside: Single malt whisky through the producing distilleries: history, making, production and tasting notes

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Cragganmore

Description of the whisky

The distillery

Cragganmore

Cragganmore Distillery
Ballindalloch
Banffshire AB37 9AB
+44 1807 500 202

Owner: United Distillers & Vintners (Diageo)
Creation date: 1869

The Cragganmore distillery was founded by John Smith in 1869. Smith chose the place for the quality of the water of the Craggan burn, but also because it was closed to the Strathspey railway. John Smith really liked trains and used to travel by rail. However is was often forced to travel in goods wagons, because of his weight of about 144 kg. The cabins in the voyagers wagon were merely to narrow for him.
John Smith was a very experienced distiller, as he has been manager of the Macallan, Glenlivet, Glenfarclas et Wishaw distilleries. When he died, his brother George Smith (owner of the Parkmore distillery) managed temporarily the distillery, until John's son, Gordon Smith could take it over.
When Gordon took the distillery over, business was very good until the whisky crisis in 1989. Despite those difficult times, Gordon did not hesitate to make important renovation works. All the new available technologies were applied to the distillery.
Gordon died in 1912 and his widow, Mary Jane took the business over until 1923, when the distillery was acquired by White Horse Distillers, just one year before the death of White Horse's father, Sir Peter Mackie.
White Horse Distillers was taken over by D.C.L (Distillers Company Ltd.) in 1965, and Cragganmore doubled its production capacity the same year.
Available from independent distillers for a very long time, Cragganmore became popular when it became one of the six "Classic Malts", series launched on the market in 1988 by UDV, and about 30% of the production is sold as single malt, the remaining part being used in blends like McCallum's Perfection and White Horse.

The whisky

A propos des notes de dégustation Your own tasting notes

List of the bottles

Description of the distillery

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 Cragganmore: official bottlings
 

Cragganmore 12 years
Age
 12 years
Alcohol
 40°
Bottler
 Official
=25 euros< 25 euros
 
 

The colour is old gold, and the nose recognizes fruit, citrus fruits (grapefruit), tobacco and iodine;
The palate is slightly smoked and confirms the nose.
The finish, malted, is from average length.

(la Maison du Whisky)

 Cragganmore is United Distillers' choice for representing the Speyside area in the "Classic Malts" collection. UDV could have made a worse choice. This bottle, modest by its price, is rather ambitious by its taste and its aftertaste. Lots of aromas and fragrances are present from the first nosing, which is rather unusual for a malt from this area. I really recommend this bottle.

The nose is rather pleasant. A second tasting did nod deny the first one. The taste is slightly salted, complex and really representative of the whiskies of that area. The pleasant finish confirms the impressions of the first tasting.

The third tasting just confirms the two preceding ones: very pleasant small, slightly smokes, followed bay a very rich and complex taste, associated to a nice finish with an average length.

The nose was rather smoky and complex at the fourth tasting, with clear hints of citrus fruit. The taste in the palate is influenced by smoke on the background, and is rather salted, which is characteristic of whiskies from more Northern or closer to the sea areas. A nice finish, and an excellent whisky.

Nothing new for the fifth tasting...

The nose is pleasantly marked by an harmonious mix of plum malt and sherry hints. After a short while, some spices arrive together with a light touch of smoke. The mouth is relatively complex with a kind of dominance by cereals and some slightly spiced and clearly salted notes. The finish is very smooth with first some malted hints quickly followed by more bitter notes.

Comment by Henrik Johansson

Apperance: Coppertoned full gold.
Nose: First impression is of fresh fruits. Refreshing and sweet. Vanilla and fruit brandy. Buttery. Diluted dram is dryer with a slight wooden aroma. Complex.
Body: Light to medium but very firm and smooth. Palate: Easy going. Semi sweet with a wide range of fruits. Long finish with outstanding complexity. Dried fruits, floral notes, butter, oak and leather.
Comments: A very good Speyside malt. I don't seem to rate it as high as the experts do, and I usually prefer The Glenlivet and The Macallan 12 Year bottlings to this one when it comes to Speysiders. Probably due to lacking experience. This is a very nuanced single malt. I'll get another bottle of Cragganmore in a couple of years and see what I think then.

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Cragganmore
1987
Distillers Edition
Age
 14 years
Alcohol
 40°
Particularity
 Double Maturation
Cask
 Port
Bottler
 Official
=25 euros=25 euros< 25 euros
 
 The colour is amber with orange glints, the nose is sweet, marked by surprisingly cherry touches.
The palate is smooth with fresh notes and spices hints.
 This whisky from Speyside is very well balanced, and gives of lots of aromas. In my opinion, this is one of the riches malts from this area. It is part of the "Classic Malts" from United Distillers and Vintners. This bottling is part of the "Distillers edition" and was matured in port casks, unlike the traditional version. A very great reference in the world of Speyside whiskies. Excellent, and I really recommend it.

At the second nosing, the nose is characterized by a remarkable complexity, combining malt hints with some sweet floral touches. The palate is smooth too, and the Port does not dominate the taste. The finish, of average length, crowns the whole.

A quite fruity and sweet nose announces a well balanced whisky. In the mouth, some fresh and slightly woody hints, rather sweet too. The sweetness is enhanced by the percentage of alcohol (which gives this whisky a kind of "watery" character). A nice finish, rather long, recalling some woody hints and a touch of chocolate....

The first nose is rather indifferent with its mix of yeast and cut grass.
In the palate, malty tastes seem to dominate some rather acid hints and discrete vanilla touches.
The finish is not very long and the memory of malty tastes remains for a certain time.
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Cragganmore
10 years old Cask Strength
Limited Edition
Age
 10 years
Alcohol
 60,1°
Particularity
 First fill xeres cask
Cask
 Xeres
Bottler
 Official
=25 euros=25 euros< 25 euros
Cragganmore 10 ans Cask strength
A rather fresh nose, with hints of hazelnut, grass and a touch of acidity, probably due to the alcohol level. A discrete touch of peat and smoke on the background, and some rather complex woody notes.
In the palate, a great complexity, a great sweetness with a touch of bitterness, walnut taste. The finish develops on malt, and is very smooth, despite the relative high degree of alcohol and is exceptionally long and pleasant.

A second tasting completely confirmed the first one. Nothing to add at this time.

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Cragganmore
17 years old
Special Edition
Age
 17 years
Alcohol
 55,5°
Bottler
 Official
=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros=25 euros< 25 euros
Cragganmore 17
Color : gold.
Nose: marked by complex notes of marzipan, apple stew, coconut and coffee grounds, it also reveals citrus hints. Continuously developing on a background of woody (oak) and chocolate notes.
Mouth: first smooth and creamy, it developes on sweet spices (nutmeg and cinnamon) and fruity notes (apple)
Finish: intense and dry, it goes on on candied fruit and a touch of smoke on a background of woody and fine chocolate notes.
(la Maison du Whisky)
An intense floral nose, very complex with hints of vanilla and fruits (pear, peach) The palate is pleasantly complex, developing quickly from the announced sweetness  on acid notes (green apple), on a malty background. The finish is long and warm, in the perfect continuation of the mouth sensations.
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 Cragganmore independent bottlings
 

Cragganmore
1989
Signatory's Un-chill filtered collection
Age
 14 years
Alcohol
 46°
Particularity
 Un-chill filtered
Bottler
 Signatory
=25 euros=25 euros< 25 euros
 
 
 Cragganmore as well as "Signatory's Un-chill filtered collection" use to produce very great malts. This bottle is thus the exception confirming both rules...
Beside the white wine colour (like most of the bottlings in this collection) which could surprise less informed drinkers, the nose is also disappointing. The typical Speyside fragrances are not present. My first impression was that I was drinking some Lowlands whisky. The palate, not really frank, reveals a mix of light malt and citrus fruits. The whole "washed-out". A not really consisting finish, and that's it. A cruel deception. It is the first deception for this distillery as well as for the collection. This bottle deserves certainly a second chance...

The second tasting confirmed the hints of cut grass, reminding a Lowlands, but a great complexity has been detected, and emphasised the very pleasant taste of this nice whisky who was judged too severely the first time

The third tasting just confirmed the second one. This bottle is somewhere between a characterful Lowland and a slightly acid Speyside. A good bottle.
.
At the fourth tasting, the quite discrete nose revealed some fresh cut grass notes along with more perfumed red fruit notes (red currant). The palate, rather fresh too, follows precisely the nose impressions, fruity and relatively complex. Hints of red currants, with their typical acidity and raspberries (sweeter but with a richer taste). A relatively short finish completes the scope with touches reminding the nose and mouth impressions. An amazing bottle, which seems to get better and better with time and aeration....
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Cragganmore
(Bladnoch bottling)
12 years

Age
 12 years
Alcohol
 62°
Particularity
 Natural Cask Strength
Bottler
 Raymond Armstrong,
Bladnoch
=25 euros=25 euros< 25 euros
Cragganmore: bladnoch forum
The nose is rather complex, mixing fruit smells (green apple) to spices, especially pepper. Behind this first impressions, some freshness, with hints of slightly dryed cut grass. The first impression in teh palate is a kind of bitterness combined to an impressing percentage of alcohol. Then, the taste of some pleasant pear spirit developing quickly (once the first alcoho hint passed) on fru-ity and malty notes while keeping that rather pleasant bitterness feeling in the mouth, gining a special dimension to the whole. The finish is nice, long, at the time fresh and warm, recalling clearly a fruit spirit.
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Cragganmore: samples

Gragganmore
1989-2004
Cask Strength Collection
(Blind tasting 2006)

Hogshead n°981
Taux d'alcool
 58.8°
Embouteilleur
 Signatory
The first nose is rather aggressive, tingling but seems to improve after a short while. However, the tingling notes dominate some discrete fruity touches.
The mouth is an amazing mix of acid and bitter notes, coming out on nice fruity hints, with a clear presence of alcohol, but relatively complex and not unpleasant.
The finish is fresh and rather long, and nice peach notes remain in the throat

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Speyside

Speyside Map

The Speyside area is situated at the North of the Cairngorm mountain and goes to the Moray firth. It is delimited by two rivers: the Findhorn at the West side and the Deveron on the East side.
The area is named after the river Spey. Most of the distilleries take their water in one of its affluents; the Fiddich, the Livet or the Avon.
About sixty distilleries from Speyside are described on this site.

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