Whisky : Cragganmore 18 Year SMWS 37.132 “Irresistibly Tropical”

Country/Region : Scotland/Speyside

ABV : 55.7%

Cask : Ex-Bourbon (16Y), FF PX Hogshead (2Y)

Age : 18 Years (Distilled 11 June 2002)

Nose :  Fruit, citrus, and spice.  Sugary fruits hit right away with fruit roll ups, tropical fruit flavored Otterpops, and instant Hawaiian Punch.  As the sugar faded with time a nice waxy-buttery quality appeared along with cinnamon and black pepper.  Citrus fruits with grape fruit and orange left the impression of a spiced sangria.

Palate :  Thick with notes of spice, fruit, and caramel.  Cinnamon, pepper, and chocolate left the impression of a spiced hot chocolate.  Time to breath revealed notes of apple orchards, a subtle earthiness, apple cider.  Malty pastries notes arrived with pie crust, apple cider donuts, and apple-caramel pie filling.  At the end was fruity balsamic vinegar and salty sweet pineapple roasted pork.  Water accentuated these final notes and brought the tangy vinegar through along with the pineapple and meaty pork.

Finish :  Lingering dried fruits and brown sugar.

Score : 8

Mental Image :  Apple Cider Donuts

Notes :  Also known as “Ginger bittersweet dark chocolate marzipan” outside of the US, this Cragganmmore was a cracking blend of fruits, spice, pastries, and rich meaty notes that only developed with time.  This had a wonderful balance between bold malt and sherry finishing cask so that it never felt too sweet or saccharine.  I am less sherry inclined than most and not typically a fan of a heavily cask finish, but this was perfectly to my taste.

I rather wish the TTB did not require SMWS to change quite so many of their bottle names.  It seems to be happening with greater frequency lately as terms related to food, drinks, or flavors get struck off the bottle and necessitate a quick renaming and reprinting of labels.  One need only peel off the top label on renamed US bottles to see the original label underneath.  It seems unlikely anyone who goes through the trouble of joining SMWS and buying bottles will be confused by the term “balsamic” or “marzipan” on the bottle.

Overall, I found this to be delightfully balanced with a lot of depth.  A few drops of water helped unify the flavor profile, but this was great at cask strength.  It was hands down the favorite at a local tasting, an unexpected victory as prior bottles had never been half as popular.  A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one.