Hi there, my name is Colin Dunn, I'm whisky ambassador for Diageo and I have
a great pleasure, and a great privilege to be here in Soho today to talk to you
about the 2019 Diageo Special Releases.
Once a year, Diageo choose individual casks that they believe have something special,
and only certain whiskies are chosen.
It doesn't really matter about the name of the distillery,
what matters is about the taste of the whisky
that's slightly different, I won't say better, but different, and gives
value added to that particular brand. So, we thought long and hard about what
we should call these releases and in the end, after 12 meetings, we decided to call them
the Special Releases!
So without further ado, I'd like to introduce you to
what I consider to be one worthy of going first, and it's a whisky that comes
from a distillery in Speyside in Northeast Scotland, and the
distillery is called Cragganmore. Some people may be familiar with Cragganmore,
with its core range expression which is the 12 Year Old, aged in refill and first
fill bourbon barrels, and gives an exquisite, mellow, fragrant taste.
Some of you may also know about the Distillers Edition expression, one of my favourites,
which has had 12 years in American casks, and then given the Port treatment.
Yes, three or four months extra ageing in Port casks which changes the texture of
Cragganmore, and adds a softer, savoury note to it.
Enough of those, what matters is
this year Cragganmore was included in the Special Releases 2019,
and the backstory of this is absolutely fantastic.
Go back to 2006 in Scotland,
particularly on the west coast, Skye, there's a shortage of water which means
the distilleries can't do the mashing to start the process of making whisky.
Nobody knew how long the drought was going to last, so from an
experimental perspective, Diageo decided they needed to make
a whisky similar to Talisker,
peating levels and taste, in case we could not make
whisky for those months when the drought was in.
So for round about three to four months, on Speyside
Cragganmore made a Talisker-esque expression,
just for three to four months.
Finally, here we are now in 2019, here is the experiment.
12 years old, the peating levels have increased.
Normally in Cragganmore, the peating level is 0.3.
Here it's up to between 8 and 10%,
not quite up to Talisker's level, but to get an expression from Cragganmore,
for me, showing this different complexity, is fantastic, and just before
we get to taste it, can I just add, of all the distilleries we have at Diageo,
obviously a lot of the whisky is going into blends.
Cragganmore distillery is the most-asked whisky by other blending companies
to put into their blends. So I'm really pleased that aside from the
12 Year Old, the excellent Port wood finish in the Distillers Edition range
now has this wonderful, only for three months, producing a smoky Speyside whisky,
fragrant hints of sandalwood and some smoke. That's because I have tasted it,
but I think we're gonna taste it again.
Are we good with that?
So when I first tasted whisky
I wanted to know the best way to appreciate it, it's like keeping it really short.
Ultimately it's about a beginning, and a middle and an end, a bit like making whisky.
There's the foreshots, the middle cut and the feints.
So for me, the nose, the mouthfeel, the finish, is all-important.
So with Cragganmore, aside from the colour
which looks like an unoaked white wine from my perspective,
let's get our nose into it.
And when I get my nose into Cragganmore,
the first word that comes to mind is nine letters, beginning with 'F'.
Fragrance!
This is the kind of whisky that if I ran out of air freshener at home,
I would move to the essence of Cragganmore.
Delicate, refined, not in-your-face
lemon citrus and just a very, very subtle hint of smoke.
When we're looking at Cragganmore, also you have to take into mind that these whiskies in
the Special Releases are all at cask strength, and this is in the high of 50s.
So I recommend when you're trying a whisky of this calibre
A: try it neat, to find out if your palate is acceptable,
or have a little water jug handy near you and just add a few drops to take down the burn,
but to accentuate the aroma.
So I'm joined today by Henry who is the features editor for Master of Malt,
and Henry, I just like to say slàinte!
Here's to a citric lemon, almost like sandalwood nose
a little bit of a burn, a little bit of a prickle from the alcohol
but the proof will be in the tasting.
Thank you for bearing with me for a few seconds, I can sum this wonderful
expression from Craganmore quite simply.
Zingy, minerally, fresh, bursting with citric fruits
and then right on the back palate there's a wave coming in
and that wave is called smoke.
Cragganmore 12 Year Old Special Release
added time, with peated flavours coming through, this truly deserves its place in
the Special Releases this year, of which there are eight. Four from Speyside,
two from the Highlands, one from Islay and one from Skye.
Cragganmore, this first expression, this Speyside expression
shows a wonderful shade of Spey that I think you're gonna love.