Glenallachie Cask Strength 35 Years Old 1990

This official GlenAllachie, a 35 year old, from 1990, at 50.2%. GlenAllachie is a Speyside single malt, revived in 2017 by the team of Billy Walker. It matures its spirit in sixteen dunnage warehouses on the distillery site at Aberlour. It was designed almost entirely gravity fed, an efficient plant for its time. It was built by Mackinlay McPherson, the firm that supplied whisky to Shackleton's 1907 expedition.

It was distilled in copper pot stills, building a deep malt of dried fruit and dark sugar. An ex-Bourbon barrel shaped it, vanillin and a soft coconut under the malt. In its ethereal years the malt turns waxy and oxidative, faded esters and a whisper of sotolon over dark fruit. Years in oak deepen the spirit to a darker gold, the body growing rounder and more resinous with time. Long ageing turns the fresh notes towards date, prune and a dark, bittersweet chocolate.

At a natural 50.2% it is full and rich. A rich, sherried sweetness, lifted by a sweet oak. It is full and fruity, the spirit carrying the cask. The close is rich and dark, fruit over a warm spice. This is a full bodied Speyside single malt of real richness.