Glenallachie Single Cask 15 Years Old 2008 (Cask 2840)

A 15 year old GlenAllachie, a distillery bottling, from 2008, cask 2840, at 54.9%, a festival cask. GlenAllachie is a Speyside single malt, the home distillery of master distiller Billy Walker. Its stills were doubled from two to four within months of opening, the lyne arms angled down for a fuller spirit. It runs unusually long fermentations, up to a hundred and sixty hours, for a thick, ester rich and fruity spirit.

The spirit was run slowly off the spirit still, building a deep malt of dried fruit and dark sugar. It was fully matured in a Pedro Ximenez cask, the wood deep in the rich spirit. Into oxidative maturity, slow air builds ripe esters and a darker chocolate, fig and date depth. Vanillin and oak lactones from the wood lend vanilla and a soft coconut over the fruit. The casks are picked closely, the wood matched to the rich GlenAllachie make. The wood frames the spirit without ever stripping the full Speyside body.

At its natural 54.9% it is rich and chewy. Baked apple, honey and a dark chocolate, with raisin, date and treacle from the cask. The mouthfeel is full and coating, the fruit dark and sweet. It finishes long, full and fruity. This is the sherry led malt of Aberlour.