BenRiach 16 Year
The BenRiach distillery has been through some rough times since it’s founding in 1898. Unfortunately, it has been susceptible to the booms and busts of the industry over the past century and more, closing a number of times in lean years but always coming back. Even when whisky production was halted, however, some aspect of the place still functioned, even if only to product floor maltings sold to other distilleries. It has been owned by Glenlivet, Seagrams, and the BenRiach Distillery Company Ltd. before being sold to the Brown-Forman Corporation in 2016. Starting in the 60s, the distillery has expanded and evolved with each transition and each challenge. For most of its history, it was used as a component in blends and was not released as a BenRiach malt until 1994. Along with this BenRiach 16, the core line is comprised of 10 and 20 year offerings, along with a ranges featuring peat, wood finishes, and premium expressions.
Craigellachie 13 Year
Though the village of Craigellachie may be more famous as the home of The Macallan, as well as the confluence of the rivers Spey and Fiddich, it is also home to the Craigellachie Distillery. It has generally flown under the whisky radar due to the fact that its output has always gone into blends, specifically Dewar’s (the distillery is owned by Bicardi but managed directly by Dewar & Sons). Thankfully, a few single malt expressions have been put out as part of Dewar’s Last Great Malts series, which focuses on new expressions and malts never released before. Aside from being uncompromising in taste, the distillery is also known for the use of the unique worm tubs, a call back to an earlier time in whisky production.
Cragganmore Distillers Edition
Cragganmore is a 2-still distillery currently owned by Diageo and sits next to the Craggan burn. The stills are small and, being only two of them, the production of the distillery is limited. That being said, it is known for being one of the most complex Speyside whiskies. One contributor to the unique taste is that the wash ferments for a long time in wash backs* made of European Larch, one of the few distilleries to still use wooden wash backs. Before launching the single malt offerings, most of the output was used in blends like James Watson Number 10, and is still used today in Old Parr and White Horse.