Glenallachie Single Cask 11 Years Old 2008 (Cask 409)

An 11 year old GlenAllachie, a distillery bottling, from 2008, cask 409, at 57.1%, 305 bottles in all. GlenAllachie is a Speyside single malt known for its heavy sherry and wine cask maturation. 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 drawn from a thick, full bodied wash, for a full make built to take active wood. Maturation came in a Moscatel cask, layered over the full GlenAllachie make. By the integrating teens the raw notes fade and esters build, the rich spirit growing rounder and darker. The full spirit deepens with time, the cask drawing out its darker register. Active first fill wood drives the maturation, the cask deep in the malt. Maturation runs slow and even in the on site dunnage warehouses at Aberlour.

At a hearty 57.1% it carries real weight. A deep, dark sweetness, with a grapey, floral sweetness from the cask. A baked apple and a warm cinnamon lift the middle. The finish is rounded, dark and spiced. This is a dark, fruity Speyside single malt.