Glenallachie 12 Years Old 2009 Cask #900851 (Signatory)

Signatory Vintage bottled this GlenAllachie, a 12 year old, distilled in 2009, from cask 900851, at 66.4%, one of 636 bottles. GlenAllachie is a Speyside single malt, long a blending malt and now a sherry led name in its own right. It was mothballed in 1985 and reopened in 1989, a modern distillery by Speyside standards. It was built by Mackinlay McPherson, the firm that supplied whisky to Shackleton's 1907 expedition.

It was run slowly off the spirit still, shaping a rich Speyside body with real weight. An Oloroso cask held it, drawing the rich spirit on over the years. In integration coconut and vanilla knit with the malt, the orchard notes deepening to sultana, date and chocolate. Long ageing turns the fresh notes towards date, prune and a dark, bittersweet chocolate. Years in oak deepen the spirit to a darker gold, the body growing rounder and more resinous with time.

Bottled at a cask strength 66.4%, it is deep and concentrated. Date, fig and a warm cinnamon, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. A dark chocolate and a soft oak give it weight. The finish runs long, full and warming. This is a deep, sherried Speyside single malt.