2009 Craigellachie 15 Year Old "Old Malt Cask - K&L Exclusive" Refill Sherry Hogshead Cask Strength Speyside Single Malt Whisky (700ml)

This is easily the sneakiest whisky of the season. I tried my little sample nearly 6 months ago and remember thinking, "huh, this is delicious," before promptly finishing the glass and moving on. When time came to order the details presented did not register as odd whatsoever, but I did remember being excited. A delicious refill hogshead of Craigellachie. No sulfur or any off notes. What a gem? What I didn't realize from that tiny sample was that this delicious whisky was in just about the most active refill sherry hogshead I've ever seen. So, while it's labelled simply as "refill hogshead" there are very few first fill sherry whiskies that match its depth and intensity in the store. How is that possible? It's one of the quirks of refill casks, sometimes the second fill ones can be even more intense and complex. Whether that's a result of the quality of the older wood or the previous malt unlocking new flavors in the wood, we might never know. All I can say is that this is one of the darkest malts in the shop right now. More proof that you can't judge a malt by its label. Here we go! It's a distinctive mahogany color (1.6). The nose is seamless -full of dark dried fruit, rich dark cocoa, creamy fudge, and ginger snap cookies. There's a sweetness that is very complimentary to the rich malt and slightly funky base note that Craigellachie often puts off. That may be why less clean sherry builds often builds into strong sulfur with Craigellachie, but this one is super clean, and the spirit instead provides the depth to the rich fruity sherry. With air we're getting fresh and dried purple plums, raspberry jam, caramel syrup, and fresh ginger root. ON the palate its strongly redolent of baked apples in syrup, dried plums, old oak, hints of medium roast, maple cookies and a hint of exotic spice. With water it shuts down a bit at first - but the palate sweetens up considerably removing the spice and adding more sweet fruit. Now with some air the nose opens with more savory character - subtle leather, machine shop, and roasted nuts. I prefer this at full strength, but it's just so outrageously opulent. I can't believe they didn't bother to put the word sherry on the label. Hilarious and delicious!