The Malt Cask

With the growing popularity of whisky, more and more wine and spirits shops decide to bottle their own single malt. By their own, I mean of course casks they have purchased through distilleries thmselves or through independent bottlers.  This is the case today with a Craigellachie selected by L'Ambassade du Vin in Niort (France) through Signatory Vintage. And looking at the cask reference (306151/part) as well as the number of bottles released (156) I guess this is from a cask share. Bottle details: Distilled 23/06/2009 Bottled 08/11/2019 Cask 306151/part Number of bottles 156 Abv 46% Colour Pale gold No mention on the label of filtration or colouring but I would say it is unchillfiltered and natural colour. My tasting notes Nose:   Creamy and fruity, green fruit, pears, apples, vanilla, spicy notes too, slight oak and cashew and pistachio nuts. Palate:   Creamy again, almonds, more yellow fruit than green fruit, peach, cereal sweetness and again a little oak spice develo...

Being French, I tend to go back home a couple of times a year, which allows me of course to catch up with family and friends but also explore what French shops have to offer in terms of whisky. And like in England, I have seen the whisky scene develop (and the matching prices too!) in the last few years with more world whiskies, more bottles from less-known distilleries and more independent bottles. I have managed to pick up some French single malts, some cheaper bourbon and even some Macallan 18 years old from 1969. Most of these picks came from a couple of shop, one of which has just released (for the first time I think) a 10 year old single cask Craigellachie bottled by Signatory Vintage for them: L'Ambassade du Vin. And as I am lucky enough to have parents who enjoy and know a bit about whisky, I was greeted by a bottle last week when I made it home for Christmas. L'Ambassade du Vin is located in the small town of Niort and from a few bottles of whisky stocked a few ye...