If you haven't already heard, the beloved Thompson Bros are well on their way to finally getting a start on their new distillery, which will be named Struie Distillery, after the local nature feature that the distillery will overlook - big and exciting news!

But for now, we'll give a big cheers to them - and our good friends at Singapore's equally beloved Swan Song Bar who've just moved into their new location and continue to do great work (and boy is their bar bigger and nicer than ever!) - for which we'll have our honorary first dram at the new bar, and it's of course got to be Thompson Bros' 2009 Craigellachie, a 13 year old refilled hogshead bottled for the 10th anniversary of the grand Chichibu Matsuri whisky festival.

| Read: You Don't Skip A Vinyl At The Swan Song's New Nest: Inside The Emerald Room's Eclectic Whisky Haven

Is this not such a spanking new set up!

The Chichibu Matsuri has become amongst the greatest whisky festivals in the world, and most certainly in Japan, and is now a must-go for any whisky lover. Set in Japan, you can prepare to try some of the latest and most exciting Japanese whiskies coming to market, whilst also of course trying some amazing Scotch, new and dusty! It's the biggest showcase in Asia and every whisky lover worth their salt has made the pilgrimage. And of course one of the things most looked forward to at the Chichibu Matsuri is of course the festival's special bottlings, which are so sought after that they have to go by raffle! And yet thankfully this time around, no raffles are needed, because we got to try this special Craigellachie that was bottled for the festival by the Thompson Bros at the Swan Song Bar.

Just as a quick plug - if you're ever in Singapore, the Swan Song Bar is a must-visit that hosts amongst the best selection of whiskies, and in particular holy grail Scotch is a big focus for them. And yet, even amongst the legendary 1950's Bowmore's and Lagavulin's and what have you - anyone who's been will happily admit that the greatest aspect of the bar is its helmsman, Arun Prashant, who is not just a wealth of knowledge but also incredibly wonderful company. PS. Ask him about the vinyl!

And so without further ado! Let's get to the whisky at hand!

Whisky Review: Craigellachie 2009, 13 Years Old, Thompson Brothers For Chichibu Matsuri

Tasting Notes

Colour: Light Gold

Aroma: It opens honeyed, accented by orchard fruits of apples and pears, and accompanied by some clove and cardamom spices which later works to deepen the aromas into that of poached apples and pears, spiced of course. With time more of a savouriness beings to emerge, with alongside some leather, mulled wine, stewed plums and a light layer of vanilla sugar frosting and frosted oats.

Taste: Medium-bodied here, it's very mellow, rounded, with this candied quality. Honeyed, it strikes an immediate bit of rancio of dried sour plums, with that sourness light yet coming through very nicely, building into stewed plums and prunes, with then some milkiness even, of yogurt and sour cream.

Finish: More on plums, prunes, figs and leather. It's encased into the finish with maltose candy, honey and vanilla frosting. It's a long and mellow, rich finish, with little nuggets of bitter chocolate lingering.

My Thoughts

This starts out deceptively Bourbon aged in sensibility on the nose, but then as you get to the palate, you quickly find out it's full on Sherried, with all these hits of plums, prunes, leather, with a fair bit of rancio coming through, not unlike Craigellachie's signature profile, with that almost sort of meatiness to it, here instead it's perhaps alittle more confectionary, you still get lots of vanilla frosting, sugared oats and even some of that dark chocolate. What I particularly like about this is that it has this overt spiced quality, of cloves and cardamom, which gives it quite an added dimension as it works really well with all else that's going on. It has a really good body as well, with a good richness and roundedness, that really encases the fruits really well, giving it this heft and body that makes it really satisfying.