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Craigduff 32 yo Single Malt

AVB

Jesus of Cool, I'm bad, I'm nationwide
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Nov 14, 2003
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Craigduff 1973 32 yo Single Malt Scotch, Signatory bottling, 700ml, decanter style bottle, Metal container, 94.8 proof, about $235, unavailable in the US. Distilled in April 1973 and limited to 566 bottles. Sherry butt number 2513.

Craigduff really isn't a seperate distillery, it is a name give to a special run of Glen Keith done in 1973. (see my Glen Keith review here.) Glen Keith is a highland malt and as such isn't normally peated. This one is.

Craigduff-1973.jpg


To quote from Signatory and more of the back story,

A LETTER FROM SIGNATORY VINTAGE SCOTCH WHISKY Co.
6 October 2005

CRAIGDUFF

At time of bottling our first cask of CRAIGDUFF 1973, we believed, based on information available to us, that Craigduff was a peated malt from Strathisla Distillery.

Based on our own more detailed research, we have now established that Craigduff was, in fact, distilled at the nearby Glen Keith distillery. Since first releasing Craigduff, there has been considerable “chatter” on how the whisky was peated etc. In this regard our own understanding is now as follows;-

Lightly peated barley from Glen Keith maltings was used in conjunction with controlled amounts of concentrated peated water, being added to each wash charge. Peated water was brought in 45 gallon drums from Stornaway, on fishing boats into the port of Buckie. The peated water was run through the small still at Glen Keith, which was coupled to an angled condenser and water driven off to concentrate the peatiness in the remaining water. It is understood that 10 gallons of the concentrated peated water was added to each wash charge. We understand the drive behind the experimental distillation came from a sister company in Japan. Apparently, during the course of the experiment, a sample of the concentrated peated water, whilst en route to Japan, was intercepted at Heathrow airport by Customs Officials who were convinced it was whisky in disguise, and decanted a fair bit of the drum before realising, too late, that it was in fact just water.

We apologise for any inconvenience that our wrongly associating Craigduff with Strathisla Distillery may have caused and would be grateful if you could update your web site and any other product descriptors to reflect the fact that Craigduff was actually made at Glen Keith.

Best regards,
Andrew Symington


29th November, 2005

An email from Alan Greig, Chivas's Heritage Director:

I eventually managed to catch up with Hugh Thompson (retired distillery manager at Glen Keith & Strathisla) to query him about Craigduff whisky. Craigduff was made at Strathisla Distillery and was made with heavily peated malt - probably from Glendronach Distillery.
Peated whisky was also made at Glen Keith, but always under the 'Glen Keith' name. At Glen Keith the peating came from peat smoked water which was produced in Stornoway - until the plant there eventually blew up. They then started making a peat smoked water at Glen Keith which was used in the Distillery. Some of this was also sent to Japan (not from Strathisla as thought).
I hope this helps to clarify some of the stories going around. And thanks for the wee sample of Craigduff at Toronto - very pleasant.
Yours in spirit

Alan

16th March, 2006

Signatory release Glenisla, insisting this and Craigduff were both distilled at Glen Keith, this has been confirmed to them by contemporary production supervisors Stuart McBain and Willy Mearns.

****************************************************

Since this was a trade sample with Smokyballs I can't verify the color in the bottle but the picture is pretty close. The color in the glass isn't much different from standard Glen Keith, perhaps just a tinge more orange .
The nose reminds me a lot of Chivas which leans more toward this being a Strathisla product if this were modern time. Peated Glen Keith which has spent 32 years in sherry casks is no longer the same as modern 10 yo Glen Keith or Strahisla.either. Nosing brings the almost normal honey and sweetness that Highland whiskies have. A light peat overlayed with citrus finishes up the nosing.

Tasting brings out more similarities to older Chivas. The sherry from Glendronich, maltiness from Strathisla and the honey from Glen Keith and a touch of oak are all in this bottle as they are in the famous blend although not as smooth as in the blend. The finish is oaky, citric and still peated. The oak is the longest lasting and indicates this may have been too long in the cask. IMO.

As a single malt it is very interesting from a historical point but is not a great dram unto itself. Mixing a little bit of Bowmore Darkest and Chivas 18 (50/50) produced almost the exact profile if you are curious about the taste.

Truely a little drink of history..
 
Damn...another bottle I will probably have to hunt down. Not like I need any more expensive hobbies. :laugh: Yet once again a fantastic review. :thumbs:
 
Damn...another bottle I will probably have to hunt down. Not like I need any more expensive hobbies. :laugh: Yet once again a fantastic review. :thumbs:
Dumbass, I have this bottle! You drank it yesterday!
The color is about right, mine is a little lighter. I had a sip from a glass I poured for captian stupid. The end peating is a little weird but I did like! I'm glad you got to sample this!
 
I do appreciate the samples. I'd do the same with Mr. Peat but he says they don't sit around long enough to collect a sample. :p
 
I do appreciate the samples. I'd do the same with Mr. Peat but he says they don't sit around long enough to collect a sample. :p

Well the Bowmore 16yo Limited Edition was half gone in one day after sharing it with everyone. When I get a couple more bottles, i will be able to send some. :whistling:
 
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