Craigellachie 17 Year Old

Thank for the review @OdysseusUnbound . Seems like this is a step up from the 13 I tried recently which I found a little boring to be honest. Well made, yes, but just not that engaging. Like you though, I'd certainly not be turning down a sample of anything, let alone a 17 year old!

I tasted this when I was invited to the "Last Great Malts of Scotland" show in Toronto a few years back. My assessment? "OK, would not buy it." So I see we agree.

@OdysseusUnbound I'll bet that you like the 23, 31 yo and 33 yo Craigellachies even better, as a gift, of course.

If someone would give me a bottle of 17 yo Craigellachie I would drink it. Is this an interesting distillery? Yes. But interesting does not of itself make for high priority for purchase.

If Ledaig is typically 3 steps toward the funk, and Springbank 2, then Craigellachie is maybe 1 step into the funky.

So more "Marky Mark" than "George Clinton."

@MadSingleMalt “Come on, swing it”

@Victor I’d love to find out how I feel about the older Craigellachie expressions, but the urge is not strong enough to pay for one of those bottles.

@OdysseusUnbound bien entendu. I tasted 9 of them at a seminar which cost the price of a decent bottle. As I look over my old tasting place mat I see that I did not have any OB 17 yo. We tasted New Make, 13, 19, 23, 31 and 33 yos, along with one SMWS (20 yo?) an Exceptional Cask Release (14 yo?), and one bonus dram I didn't write down (another IB 18 yo ?) thrown into the mix .

I really liked those Craigellachies aged more than 30 years.

@MadSingleMalt @Victor - What whisky would take the 'Stevie Wonder Whisky Funk Award' then?

I'd have to shout out Benromach 15 - that's gonna get my love

And any excuse to fall down a YT rabbit hole of funk such as this classic (and what a band name!)

www.youtube.com/watch

@RianC funky whisky award? That is an interesting question. Seems to me like it would take a very wide experience to have a strong basis for an opinion. Funky in whisky usually seems to be a product of distillation, but it can also result from any combination of distillation funk and oddly flavoured peat or sulphured wine cask influence. You can get any and maybe all of these from Ledaig (Tobermory peated), Springbank/Longrow, Brora, Bowmore (15 yo sherried Darkest), young Craigellachie, and the occasional Bruichladdich (e.g. maybe some releases of Black Art). No doubt there are other good candidates as well. For everyday purposes of expecting funk, I'll go with Ledaig.

Stevie Wonder! I've seen him about five times, all but one of them when he was the first, back-up act for Diana Ross and the Supremes or Dionne Warwick. Those concerts were all more than 50 years ago. The one time I saw Stevie by himself was with me as a 14 year old in February 1968 at the Baltimore Civic Center. My friend and I were the only Caucasians I saw in the audience. This was about 2 months before the King assassination and many buildings being burnt down in Baltimore. That was an interesting and exciting experience.