Aqua Vitae 2009 Craigellachie 13 Year Old Single Cask Single Malt Scotch Whisky

Aqua Vitae 2009 Craigellachie 13 Year Old Single Cask Single Malt Scotch Whisky is a distinctive Speyside release distilled in 2009 and matured for 13 years before being bottled in 2022. Selected from a single sherry hogshead as part of Aqua Vitae’s striking Godzilla series, this bottling captures Craigellachie’s famously robust, weighty spirit while allowing the sherry maturation to provide richness without overwhelming the underlying distillery character. Bottled at 52.1% ABV, non-chill filtered and without added colouring, only 388 bottles were produced from this individual cask.

Distillery: Craigellachie Distillery
Bottler: Aqua Vitae
Series: Godzilla
Age: 13 Years Old
ABV: 52.1%
Cask Type: Sherry Hogshead
Cask Number: 90304835
Outturn: 388 Bottles

Craigellachie is renowned amongst whisky enthusiasts for producing a muscular and characterful style of Speyside spirit, often displaying a distinctive combination of malty richness, fruit, waxiness and savoury weight. This single cask bottling from Aqua Vitae takes that naturally powerful character in a particularly interesting direction. Despite its maturation in a sherry hogshead, the cask influence remains relatively restrained, allowing the cereal-driven and savoury qualities of the Craigellachie spirit to remain prominent alongside fruit, chocolate and subtle sherry sweetness.

Tasting Notes:
A wonderfully unconventional Craigellachie opening with smoky, savoury and malty aromas layered with ripe banana, apricot and peach. Creamy sweetness develops alongside toasted grains and a subtle nuttiness, while the sherry influence remains beautifully integrated rather than dominant. The palate is full-bodied and characterful, bringing multigrain cereal, malt, dark chocolate and dried hay together with softer notes of creamy fruit and strawberry yoghurt. Gentle smoke and earthy complexity run throughout, leading into a lingering finish of bittersweet chocolate, toasted grain, subtle fruit sweetness and savoury malt.