Glenallachie Meikle Tòir 2018 Cask #11569

A distillery release of GlenAllachie, a 7 year old, from 2018, cask 11569, at 59.9%, 355 bottles in all. GlenAllachie is a deep, dark Speyside malt, this a peated bottling of sweet smoke and dark fruit. Its stills were doubled from two to four within months of opening, the lyne arms angled down for a fuller spirit. It was designed almost entirely gravity fed, an efficient plant for its time. 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.

The spirit was run slowly off the spirit still from a peated wash, for the sweet, oaky smoke of the peated make. A Pedro Ximenez cask held it, drawing the rich spirit on over the years. Young and extractive, the cask sheds vanillin and toasted sugars over the full, smoky spirit. Active first fill wood drives the maturation, the cask deep in the malt.

At a hearty 59.9% it carries real weight. A smoky, sherried sweetness, with raisin, date and treacle from the cask. Beneath the smoke run dried fruit, dark sugar and a warm spice. Soft smoke, spice and a dark fruit see it out. This is a full bodied, peated Speyside single malt.