Another whisky for the Overrated Bin

[patrick dicaprio]

Cragganmore 12 yo. Another where i read all these tasting notes about how complex it is, how the nose smells of pencil shavings (!) etc. I found it to be good, better than Balvenie 10, but still overrated. A nice flowery whisky, but i dont see that it measures up to the best.

Pat

[Lawrence]

I'm curious, how strong was the "flowery" bit you detected?

[Admiral]

Our impression of a whisky is certainly a subjective, personal and individual thing, but I've always found Cragganmore quite deserving of the high esteem many hold it in.

It's also priced very reasonably, which makes it difficult to accuse of being over-rated. Compare it with other whiskies around the same price point, and I think it stacks up pretty well.

To be honest, given the low exposure it has, I would have thought it qualifed for an "under-rated" malt.

Cheers,
Admiral

[richard]

i think the 12 year old cragganmore a top quality malt delicate grass and herbs on the nose medium body but a lovely smokiness n the finnish never had a bad one a top dressing deservedl

its also quite complex very diffacult to find all the flavours there all intertwined and working together instead off taking you off in different directions

richard

[patrick dicaprio]

I'm curious, how strong was the "flowery" bit you detected?

it is more herbal than flowery but i would say the flowery is of medium intensity on the nose. i have only had three drams so far of the bottle, so i havent completed my notes yet.

Pat

[Laphroaig]

Just had the priviledge to try a Cragganmore 10 - Natural Strength - Sherry Butt... I thought it was wonderful. Actually smashing is more like it! Shame, it sounds like it's a rare treat and will be a very limited product.

[Lawrence]

Is this Cragganmore 10 a OB?

[hpulley]

Yes, it is a very new release, Lawrence. No news yet on whether Canada will see it but with us getting many annual, rare and hidden malts series from Diageo lately I have high hopes that this CS Cragganmore will grace our shores this year Probably at the same time that we'll receive PE 4th release

Harry

[Tom]

Is it floral? Cragganmore 12 should be very floral.(im collecting floral whiskys atm so i can soon compare them)

[Laphroaig]

Yes - The Cragganmore 10 was OB. Perhaps it was sort of a Demo but the font and label were a lot more simplistic than the 12 Cragganmore bottle.

Keep in mind this was a sample I tasted - not my own bottle. The indication is that there will be less than 1500 bottles (I believe it was said right around a thousand) and the cost will be over $100.00 USD (likely $120ish)

Flowery yes, but to me I don't know if it was the added strength, (the Sherry factor was NOT heavy) or other aspects, but the body was noticeably more structured than the 12 (to me). Comparing the two, the 12 would be medium bodied at best to me, where as the 10 is staring full bodied down pretty hard. IMHO This 10 will probably sell easily just based on those who look for something different. For me the price for whiskey that age is somewhat an obstacle.

Also bear with me on the limited details. Right behind the Craggan... 10, I tasted the new Talisker 18, the 25, Caol Ila 18 and an upcoming 25 + the Lagavulin 12 CS (all OBs) - so my ability to reflect was slightly warped. Luckily I tasted the C-10 first!

[Laphroaig]

That was what was on [plainer] label on the front of the bottle, (15,000) - but unless the Ambassador slipped up - he said verbatum - "about a thousand bottles". . .

I actually changed it to 1,500 believing I mis-read the bottle and it mush have said 15 hundred instead of thousand. Now that you've cleared that up, maybe I wasn't as bad off as I thought after all those tastes.

Maybe he meant a thousand in the US only - not sure about that - but will attempt to find the answer asap.

[Laphroaig]

Aproximately 10,000 70cl bottles (in other words UK/EU bottles)

Roughly 5,000 .750 bottles (US primarily)

So the label and Mate above were accurate!