Cragganmore Single Malt Whisky

At the end of a narrow road less than 200 meters from the River Spey sits Cragganmore Distillery. Though it's a member of the Classic Malts series and located in the busy, tourist-heavy Speyside region, only 8,000 visitors make the journey each year. The limited number of visitors is largely due to its secluded location. Turning off the busy A95 highway between Aberlour and Boat of Garten, one must navigate a small road with poor signage, making it easy to miss. Those who persevere are rewarded with an exceptional experience. Visitors who opt for the premium tour gain exclusive access to the magnificent Clubroom, where they can sample the whisky. Featuring a library, open fireplace, and Chesterfield furniture, the room evokes a splendid Victorian-era parlor. This space once served as the distillery office where founder John Smith operated the business in the 1870s. Cragganmore is equipped with a 6.8-ton stainless steel mash tun with a copper top and six Oregon pine washbacks. In 2019, the distillery operated five days per week, with all six washbacks fermenting simultaneously, alternating between short (60-hour) and long (90-hour) fermentation periods. The facility features two large wash stills with straight descending lyne arms and two relatively smaller spirit stills with extended, gradually curved lyne arms. Uniquely, these spirit stills have flat tops—a design already in use during founder John Smith's tenure. The stills are connected to external worm tub condensers for cooling the alcohol vapor. In 2019, the distillery's annual production reached 1.65 million liters. Cragganmore single malt is a crucial component of Old Parr blended whisky. Established in 1909, the Old Parr brand enjoys particular popularity in Japan and Latin America. Although sales saw modest growth before 2010, Old Parr's volume has long since declined from its peak, dropping to just 12 million bottles in 2018. The distillery's official core range includes a 12-year-old expression and a Distiller's Edition (commonly known as DE). In 2019, Diageo released a 12-year-old cask strength Cragganmore as part of its Special Releases series.