Glenallachie Single Cask 30 Years Old 1990 (Cask 3593)

A 30 year old GlenAllachie, a distillery bottling, from 1990, cask 3593, at 54.8%, 274 bottles in all. GlenAllachie is a deep, dark Speyside malt of dried fruit, chocolate and spice. Its water is the Lochnagar Burn, drawn down from the slopes of Ben Rinnes. It was bought in 2017 by Billy Walker and two partners, fresh from selling BenRiach, GlenDronach and Glenglassaugh.

It was distilled to a full, generous cut, shaping a rich Speyside body with real weight. It rested in ex-Bourbon oak, oak lactones lending a creamy vanilla. At a great, fragile age oxidation rules, sotolon lending maple and dried fig as beeswax and old leather linger. Years in oak deepen the spirit to a darker gold, the body growing rounder and more resinous with time. The casks are picked closely, the wood matched to the rich GlenAllachie make. The full bodied spirit takes active wood well, carrying its dark sugars through the years.

At its natural 54.8% it is rich and chewy. Orange, raisin and a treacle edge, with a warm oak spice. Dried fruit and a treacle sit behind the spice. The finish is rounded, dark and spiced. This is a deep, sherried Speyside single malt.