Craigellachie 13 Showdown
Comparison/Review
Craigellachie 13 year old (Distillery release, core range) – 48%ABV
VS
Single Cask Nation Craigellachie 13 year old – 58.1%ABV
During my review and comparison tasting, an immediate observation is how much lighter the colour of the SCN bottling is.
This comes from the single cask 2nd fill bourbon cask. Compared to the core range which, from what I understand, is both bourbon and sherry casks which gives it the darker colour.
The next obvious is the difference in ABV% – 48% vs a potent 58.1% 😎
Cask Strength always checks off a box for me! ☑️
Now, when it comes to the tasting notes:
The nose of the SCN bottling is a lot more earthy, where the core range has a more sweet nose.
On the palate, the SCN is much more rich and robust than the core range. It also has a much more pronounced Speyside/Cragellachie funk, that you either love or hate…luckily for me, I love it!
The SCN has more oak and much more earth notes, where the core range has more subtle earthy elements, and is rounded with more sweetness and caramel. The core range has a more silky mouthfeel that the SCN which is a bit more harsh, most likely again from the lack of sherry influence, but also from the higher ABV I would presume.
Finally, the finish of the SCN is much more pronounced and lingers much longer than the core range.
It has a nice bit of spice to it as well, not over powering by any means, just a hint that I find compliments the funky flavour nicely.
All-in-all, I love both drams.
The SCN might take the cake in the head-to-head mostly because of the ABV. I’m a sucker for cask strength!
The single cask also stands out, when tasted back-to-back, because it showcases how unique a single cask bottling can be compared to a core range bottling from a distillery.
The core range is still going to always be on my shelf!