Cragganmore 21 Year Old Cask Strength Single Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml)

When Cragganmore is good, it's equivalent to whisky marmalade and it's usually cask strength incarnations that shine brightest. This unusually old and rare natural strength bottling has received disparate reviews and ratings - depending on who you follow, it's either astonishingly good or "slightly underwhelming"...The suspense is killing us! If you happen to be the first to taste this dark horse bottling, please let us know your impressions.
This is part of Diageo's 2010 'Special Releases' program. Aged in American oak. Only 5856 bottles produced. Distilled 1989. Bottled 2010. Very Limited Stocks.

Other reviews... a single malt of unstinting enormity yet unambiguous magnificence...Massive age, the odd creak here and there. But never for a second is the quality breeched. What a fascinating, awe inspiring dram...
95.5 points - Jim Murrays Whisky Bible 2014

...The lightness of the hue suggests a very slow maturation in refill casks, and while I tried hard to get to grips with this, I found the nose simply too discreet. There’s a hint of the burning bonfire which indicates the subtle smoke that underpins Cragganmore; there’s even some parma violet, dried berries, and a hint of sulfur. The palate picks things up a little, showing ferns, wet moss, Oolong tea, and dried apple, as well as citrus and — surprisingly — some just-lit cigar fuminess. It’s all rather understated, however. This is one of my top distilleries, but compared to the recent Special Releases and magnificent Friends of the Classic Malts bottlings, this is slightly underwhelming.
77 points -www.maltadvocate.com (Vol. 20, #1) Reviewed by: Dave Broom