Cragganmore 12 Year Old | Single Speyside Malt Scotch Whisky NV / 750 ml.

The nose is fragrant with herbs, fruit, newly mown grass and a touch of cinnamon. The body is medium, although there’s a hint of peat that seems to mask the cinnamon spiciness — but not to the whiskey’s detriment. The finish is long and spicy.

The succulent aroma develops with aeration in the sweet forms of barley, cream, light caramel, and a trace of tropical fruit. Palate entry is round, borderline, plump, breakfast-cereal sweet, and honeyed; at midpalate, there’s a slightly oily peat smoke. Sweetly concludes with the focus on the malt.

This oft-overlooked Speysider has been frustratingly variable in the past, but now seems to have hit greater consistency. Worm tubs and weird stills combine to give a complex malt, but one that needs help from oak to blossom fully. There are hedgerow aromas: black currant leaf, hawthorn berries, and lots of honey. A chestnut note continues on the tongue where, on the finish, a hint of smoke lurks.

Full golden straw. Moderately full-bodied. Flowers, wet moss, minerals. Full floral, grassy aromas. Hint of sweetness on entry that gives way to a dry minerally impression through the lengthy finish. Quite assertive on the palate yet complex, with subtle flavors. A lighter flavored digestif style.