A Cragganmore distilled only a few days after my birth (September 1978) and bottled in November 1996.

It’s part of a batch of three sister casks that were distilled on the same day and bottled by Gordon & MacPhail in their CASK series in 1996.

Cragganmore 18 yo 1978
(60,1%, G&M CASK 1996, cask #4959)

Nose: starts on flowery notes and subtle fruit (apples, soft peach, grapes). Hints of white wine. Whiffs of wax and what we call “hotel cake” around here. After a while, there’s interesting coal smoke and gas coming through, which is rather typical for really old whisky (let’s say 1940’s-1960’s) but less common in the late 1970’s. Some hints of latte. Very nice combination overall, even more so with a few drops of water. Mouth: powerful. Starts flowery again and slightly herbal. Too much lavender now, which brings out a soapy element that quite frankly I’ve noticed with Cragganmore a bit too often. Other than that: almonds and spices. Water highlights fruity notes (pears and apples mostly) but it’s never really convincing. Finish: slightly smoky, definitely spicy, and quite long.

Again a Cragganmore with a soapy edge. The old-style coal smoke and fruity/spicy body makes up for part of it though. A bottle was sold for € 107 at WhiskyAuction recently.

Score: 83/100