Glenallachie Single Cask for Europe – Batch 1 28 Years Old 1990

A distillery release of GlenAllachie, a 28 year old, from 1990, cask 1468, at 54.1%, a festival cask. GlenAllachie is a Speyside single malt known for its heavy sherry and wine cask maturation. It was bought in 2017 by Billy Walker and two partners, fresh from selling BenRiach, GlenDronach and Glenglassaugh. Its water is the Lochnagar Burn, drawn down from the slopes of Ben Rinnes.

It was worked unhurried through the stillhouse, giving a full bodied Speyside spirit. A bourbon barrel held it, the wood adding a soft honey over the fruit. Through the evaporative decades the esters fold into raisin, fig, beeswax and a bittersweet chocolate. Active first fill wood drives the maturation, the cask deep in the malt. Vanillin and oak lactones from the wood lend vanilla and a soft coconut over the fruit. Years in oak deepen the spirit to a darker gold, the body growing rounder and more resinous with time.

At 54.1%, undiluted, it is dark and full. Orange, raisin and a treacle edge, with a soft vanilla from the oak. The mouthfeel is full and coating, the fruit dark and sweet. The finish is long, rich and spiced. This is a rich, sherried Speyside single malt.