During the years that followed ownership passed to Peter Mackie (in
1916), the Distillery Company Limited (in 1927) and to SMD (in 1930).
Th 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 Craigellachie was sold to John Dewar & Sons (Bacardi).

The Craigellachie distillery was built in 1891 by Craigellachie Distillery
Co Ltd., 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.

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...
 
 
 

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.

One 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.

Much of the village was built on this cliff.
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).

Trivia about Craigellachie: A  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.