Glenallachie 7 Years Old 2014 Cask #9900166 – 9900167 (Wilson & Morgan)

A GlenAllachie of a 7 year old chosen by Wilson and Morgan, distilled in 2014, from cask 9900166-9900167, at 46%, one of 1880 bottles. GlenAllachie is a Speyside single malt known for its heavy sherry and wine cask maturation. It was designed almost entirely gravity fed, an efficient plant for its time. Its water is the Lochnagar Burn, drawn down from the slopes of Ben Rinnes. It runs unusually long fermentations, up to a hundred and sixty hours, for a thick, ester rich and fruity spirit. It was built for the 1960s blend boom, its make long destined for the blender's vat.

It was taken gently through wash and spirit stills, giving a full bodied Speyside spirit. It was matured in an Oloroso cask, the wood working deep into the malt. In these extractive early years the oak gives vanillin as vanilla and lactones as coconut over orchard fruit and a dark sugar. Vanillin and oak lactones from the wood lend vanilla and a soft coconut over the fruit.

Reduced to 46%, it is mellow and sweet. A rich, sherried sweetness, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. Beneath it run dried fruit, dark sugar and a warm spice. The finish is long, rich and spiced. This is the sherry led malt of Aberlour.