The Speyside representative of the Classic Malts series - Cragganmore 12 Year Old.

This is a 1990s release of the Classic Malts 12 year old. When United Distillers succeeded DCL, one of their first orders of business was to reclaim control of the distribution of their single malts. In the DCL days, the distillery's had been licensed to the blending company's in their portfolio, Cragganmore for example to D&J McCallum, and Talisker to John Walker & Sons. The process of cancelling these contracts was quicker for some distilleries than others, so some of the early Classic Malts still bear the names of these former licensees, most notably White Horse Distillers on the Lagavulin 16 year old

Cragganmore distillery was built by John Smith at the end of the 19th century. An astute businessman, he selected the location of his distillery to facilitate easy trade with his customers, and produced spirit geared fully towards the needs of the blending companies. It was not long before it was considered one of the finest for such a purpose, and the distillery was eventually acquired by White Horse Distillers. When White Horse were bought by DCL (now Diageo), they selected in as part of their Classic Malts series in 1988, officially launching its single malt brand. Despite this, its importance to Diageo's blends means that distillery bottlings like this are scarce, with only this 12 year old and Distillers Edition making up a permanent range.