Craigellachie 9 YO 2004 Hepburn’s Choice Single Malt

Craigellachie 9 YO 2004 Hepburn’s Choice Single Malt

Speyside, Bottled by Hunter Laing

46% ABV/92 Proof, Aged 9Y in a Sherry Butt

741 bottles produced

Eye: Golden straw color with a medium rim that bleeds thick legs. 

Nose: White wine blasts out of the Glencairn, sweet and acidic. Nose coalesces into fresh apple juice with a hint of barrel char in the background. 

Palate: tingles the tip of the tongue. Apple notes continue and coat the mouth. Stone fruits, especially tart yellow nectarines, break up the sweetness. There’s a light grainy taste on the finish that balances the sweetness well, too. Mouthfeel is coating with a medium body. 

Finish is long and tingly from oak with some sweetness that lends towards a bourbon-finished rather than the actual sherry butt finish. 

Overall: this is a medium bodied sipper well suited for summer…the heat is well-contained. I wish there was a bit more complexity but tasty nonetheless. 

Rating: 4.8

10 | Insurpassable | Nothing Else Comes Close (Blanton’s Straight from the Barrel)

9 | Incredible | Extraordinary (GTS, Elijah Craig Barrel Proof B518 and B520)

8 | Excellent | Exceptional (12+YO MGP Bourbon, Highland Park Single Barrels)

7 | Great | Well above average (Blanton’s Original, Old Weller Antique, Booker’s)

6 | Very Good | Better than average (Four Roses Small Batch Select, Knob Creek 14+ YO Picks)

5 | Good | Good, solid, ordinary (Elijah Craig Small Batch, Buffalo Trace, Old Grand-Dad Bottled-in-Bond)

4 | Sub-par | Many things I’d rather have (A.D. Laws Four Grain, Compass Box “Oak Cross”)

3 | Bad | Flawed (Iron Smoke Bourbon, Balcones)

2 | Poor | Forced myself to drink it (Buckshee Bourbon and Rye)

1 | Disgusting | Drain pour (Virginia Distilling Co. Cider Cask)

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