Appearence: Full gold, amber notes Aroma: Moderately intense aroma, with some pugency and nose (straight) prickle. Whiff of brimstone to start, accompanied by a singed or charred note. Toffee in the background. (dilute) Oloroso sherry, some turpentine or pine essence, with cider apples; some sandalwood and indeterminate floral scents. Leather and burnt matches just detectable. Flavour: Mouthfilling. A full, sweet start, followed by some astringency and a a short bitter finish. Some herbal flavours and dry sherry. Development: The aromatics reduce to a mild and pleasant complex with no off notes. Price $48.99 The Distillery John Smith, the founder of Cragganmore Distillery, is said to have been the most experienced distiller of his day. He had been manager of Macallan, Glenlivet and Wishaw distilleries, and was lease holder of Glenfarclas distillery when he persuaded his landlord, Sir George Macpherson-Grant, to lease him the land to build a new distillery at Ballindalloch beside the Strathspey railway line, in 1869. Cragganmore (the name of the hill behind the distillery, whose springs supply the water for production) was the first distillery to be deliberately sited to take advantage of railway transport, and a private siding was built on the Strathspey railway to accomadate distillery traffic. John Smith was a great railway enthusiast, but since he weighed 308 pounds (140kg) and was too wide to enter a railway carriage, he was obliged to travel in the guards van! He died in 1886, leaving the business to his son Gordon, who largely rebuilt the distillery in 1901. In 1923, Gordon's widow sold the distillery to the Cragganmore Distillery Co. Ltd., a susidiary of White Horse Distillers Ltd. Now the licensed distillers are D & J McCallum Ltd. of Edinburgh who for many years exported Cragganmore mainly to Australia and New Zealand. In 1988/89, however, the brand was deservedly chosen by United Distillers to represent Speyside in their Classic Malts series. It was magnificantly relabelled and widely promoted, and as a result it has become much better known.