Cú Dhub, Black Blended Malt – Batch No 1, 43%

Cú Dhub, Black Blended Malt – Batch No 1, 43% is made in memory of a legend from The Forest of Gaick. A walking story from the Scottish Highlands, which the rugged Scots gladly and proudly tell, even for children!

The legend of Laggan’s Witch, who had a heart as black as Cú Dhub Whisky, is about a woman who was seduced by the devil himself. She lived a double life as wife and Laggan’s Witch without anyone knowing. As a witch, she had the deaths of many good men on her conscience – one of them being the noble MacGillichallum of Razay.

Legend has it that on the night MacGillichallum is killed, his friend is sitting in his cabin in Gaick’s Forrest with his two black dogs. The witch also intends to kill the friend. She comes to the cabin in the form of a cat that appears to be in need of shelter. At the fire, the cat begins to take on the form of the witch and an appearance that the friend recognizes as the wife from Laggan. Had it not been for the two black dogs, the plan would probably have succeeded. The dogs fight the witch, who flees with the dogs after her. They eventually make it back to the cabin, bleeding and exhausted from the fight.

The friend goes to Laggan’s house, where he sees all the neighbors watching over the wife on her deathbed. He knows that the wife and the witch are the same person, and reveals her by removing the blanket that hides the wounds from the dogs. She confesses before dying in pain.

At the same time, a traveler is on his way home through the forest. He meets a desperate woman in black who is on her way to the cemetery in Dalarossie. Later, two black dogs run past him, and shortly afterwards he meets a black rider on a black horse, who asks if he has seen a woman in black, as well as two black dogs. The traveler answers and continues on his way. Before he reaches home, he meets the black rider once more. Now with the woman in black, hanging on her saddle bow with one dog biting at her thigh and the other at her chest. The Black Rider tells how he caught the woman just before she entered the cemetery. The traveler later learns of the wife’s fate and realizes that the woman he met in the forest was actually her witch spirit, trying to save herself from evil by entering the cemetery of Dalarossie – a place so sacred that a witch immediately is freed from her bond with the Devil himself, just by entering there. But unfortunately or fortunately, the wife arrived too late and was brought home by the devil himself.

A legend, perhaps not for children, but nevertheless as true as Cú Dhub whiskey is black!

Nose: Roasted coffee beans, dusty malty sweetness, English licorice and a hint of dryness.
Taste: Creamy, intense taste of sherry sweetness and at the same time very spicy with licorice and vanilla.
Finish: Really long aftertaste, vinous and sherry fruit. A hint of smoke (barbecue charcoal) and strong coffee. Comment A whiskey with a bite, where the malt is penetrating. Enjoy it neat, with crushed ice or as a whiskey long drink in a cocktail!

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