Glenallachie 8 Years Old 2012 Cask #900026 (UD – bottler)

UD - bottler bottled this GlenAllachie, an 8 year old, distilled in 2012, from cask 900026, at 66.3%, one of 270 bottles. GlenAllachie is a Speyside single malt, the home distillery of master distiller Billy Walker. Under Walker it turned to single malt, with heavy maturation in sherry and wine casks. It runs unusually long fermentations, up to a hundred and sixty hours, for a thick, ester rich and fruity spirit.

The spirit was distilled to a full, generous cut, building a deep malt of dried fruit and dark sugar. Maturation came in an Oloroso cask, layered over the full GlenAllachie make. At an extractive age eugenol lends a clove note and lactones a coconut, the spirit rich, fruity and full. 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. The wood frames the spirit without ever stripping the full Speyside body.

At a hearty 66.3% it carries real weight. A rich, sherried sweetness, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. A dark chocolate and a soft oak give it weight. The finish runs long, full and warming. This is the sherry led malt of Aberlour.