Glenallachie Single Cask 14 Years Old 2010 (Cask 2470)

A 14 year old GlenAllachie, a distillery bottling, from 2010, cask 2470, at 62.4%, 149 bottles in all. GlenAllachie is a Speyside single malt, the home distillery of master distiller Billy Walker. Its water is the Lochnagar Burn, drawn down from the slopes of Ben Rinnes. It was founded in 1967, designed by the architect William Delme Evans, his fourth distillery after Jura and Tullibardine.

It was distilled in copper pot stills, for a thick, ester rich spirit the casks then deepen. Ex-Bourbon casks held it, the American oak lending vanilla and a light honey. Through integration spirit and wood marry, vanillin rounding out as esters lend riper orchard fruit and a chocolate depth. Vanillin and oak lactones from the wood lend vanilla and a soft coconut over the fruit. The full spirit deepens with time, the cask drawing out its darker register. Long ageing turns the fresh notes towards date, prune and a dark, bittersweet chocolate.

At a hearty 62.4% it carries real weight. Fig, walnut and a bittersweet chocolate, over a gentle, creamy oak. A dark chocolate and a soft oak give it weight. The close is rich and dark, fruit over a warm spice. This is a rich Speyside malt of dried fruit and chocolate.