Page 82 - WINE DINE AND TRAVEL MAGAZINE SUMMER 2021 DISCOVERING MENDOCINO

asked Ron if he would like to have a shot on the
house. That was a no brainer.
He pulled out a bottle of Craigellachie, a brand
unfamiliar to Ron. He poured a generous amount
of the warm golden colored silky liquid into a shot
glass. The fragrance of orange, pineapple and
vanilla wafted from the glass. This is even better
than Writer’s Tears, Ron said to the smiling bar-
keep. Smooth, well balanced, and lightly sweet
with hints of orange, caramel and vanilla.
“Wow, that was tasty,” said Ron with a grin on
his face and a nice warm burn in his stomach, “I’ve
never heard of this whiskey.”
The bartender explained that it was the oldest
and rarest single malt from the famous rocky hill
directly across from The MacAllan facility in the
township of Aberlour. Craigellachie has been pro-
ducing single malt Whiskey on site since 1891.The
23 year-old gem that Ron was sipping was the old-
est and rarest they have released and runs just
south of $300 a bottle. It’s extremely hard to find
especially since it won the prestigious “Best
Whiskey in Show” at the San Francisco World Spir-
its Competition.
Feeling honored and warmed, Ron made his way
back to the table where he tried to explain to
Mary where he was for the last ten minutes. His
timing was good as our server came out with our

82 WINE DINE & TRAVEL MAGAZINE 2021