Skip to content
  • Home
  • Whisky Top 10
  • Tasting Notes
  • About Thijs
  • Contact
  • Home
  • Whisky Top 10
  • Tasting Notes
  • About Thijs
  • Contact
logo
Cragganmore 1988 17 years old special edition

Cragganmore 1988 17 Years Old Special Edition (2006)

4 July 2018 0 comments Article Cragganmore, Scotland, Speyside, Tasting Notes

While Cragganmore is one of the original Classic Malts, representing the important Speyside region, it is still a relatively unknown distillery. Other than releasing the occasional Special Release, Diageo doesn’t do much to promote it as a single malt. Also, you only rarely see it bottled by an independent bottler.

That’s a shame, because Cragganmore has something unique to it. Part of it is the lightly peated malt they use, which combined with long fermentation times, oddly shaped stills, and worm tubs, makes for a whisky with its own DNA. A prime example is the Cragganmore 1988 17 Years Old, released as a Special Edition over ten years ago.

Cragganmore 1988 17 Years Old Special Edition (55,5%, OB, 2006)

Nose: A hint of smoke and moss with some non-intrusive and very soft sulphur. There’s some fresh vanilla, as well as notes of lemon yoghurt, and whispers of star anise. Finally a hint of dry apple cider and orange zest. Oh, and some oak too.
Taste: Quite spicy, with a big hit of chili pepper and black pepper to start things off, as well as some ginger. It has the same fruity backbone as the nose though, with citrus notes taking center stage, supported by vanilla and a touch of smoke.
Finish: A whisper of smoke, sweetness and spices.

Rating: 87

I love how unique this is. It has it’s own flavour profile, impossible to replicate by another distillery. Unique doesn’t always equate to quality, but in this case it does. There are many whiskies out there that have a sort of genericism to to them. Cragganmore certainly doesn’t belong to that group.

Photo: The Whisky Exchange

Thijs Klaverstijn Kingairloch 3
Thijs Klaverstijn

Thijs is a spirits writer and accredited liquorist from The Netherlands. He runs the blog Words of Whisky and contributes to a number of Dutch and international publications.

Tags: 17yo, cragganmore, special edition, speyside

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Tumblr

Most popular posts

  • Glendronach cask (flickr ti yab) GlenDronach Is A Lot Older Than The Label Says
  • caol ila 2008 12yo torsten paul rogers whisky company Caol Ila 2008 12 Years (Roger’s & Torsten Paul Whisky Company)
  • waterford single farm origin ballymorgan 1.1 Waterford Ballymorgan 1.1 (2020)
  • tamnavulin sherry cask edition Tamnavulin Sherry Cask Edition (2020)
  • dornoch distillery cask 001 inaugural thompson Anniversary Post: Dornoch Distillery Cask #1 (2020)

Recent blog posts

  • Upcoming: Blind Tasting Competition
  • Sexism & Misogyny in our Whisky Community
  • Monologue: Waterford’s Mark Reynier on Biodynamics & Terroir
  • Why The Whiskybase Gathering Should Be On Your Bucket List
  • Visiting Ballindalloch Distillery: Tradition & Patience in Speyside

Copyright Words of Whisky 2018