Glenallachie 17 Years Old 1996 Cask #5236 + 5237 (Signatory)

This GlenAllachie comes from Signatory Vintage, the Edinburgh house that bottles at Edradour above Pitlochry, a 17 year old, distilled in 1996, from cask 5236 + 5237, at 43%, one of 809 bottles. GlenAllachie is a Speyside single malt from the hills above Aberlour, below Ben Rinnes. It was bought in 2017 by Billy Walker and two partners, fresh from selling BenRiach, GlenDronach and Glenglassaugh. It matures its spirit in sixteen dunnage warehouses on the distillery site at Aberlour.

The spirit was distilled to a full, generous cut, giving a full bodied Speyside spirit. A bourbon barrel held it, the wood adding a soft honey over the fruit. Through oxidative maturity the esters concentrate, the orchard notes turning to raisin, fig and a dark chocolate. The full spirit deepens with time, the cask drawing out its darker register. The wood frames the spirit without ever stripping the full Speyside body.

Bottled at 43%, it is rounded and full. Date, fig and a warm cinnamon, lifted by a sweet oak. It is full and fruity, the spirit carrying the cask. The finish runs long, full and warming. This is a Speyside single malt of real standing.