Allt-a-Bhainne 12 Years Old 2008 (Chapter 7 Anthology)

Distilled in 2008 and bottled by Chapter 7 Whisky in 2021 under the A Whisky Anthology imprint, this is a 12 Years Old Allt-a-Bhainne at 49.7% ABV from ex Bourbon maturation. The release is one of 298 bottles. Chapter 7 is a Geneva based independent bottler with a literary themed branding, releasing single cask Scotch and other world whiskies in distinct narrative volumes.

Allt-a-Bhainne ferments malted barley for 48 to 50 hours on Mauri liquid yeast in closed stainless steel washbacks, then double distills through two copper wash stills and two copper spirit stills with steam heating and shell and tube condensers. The short Speyside ferment produces a clean malt forward spirit built as a blend filler for Chivas Regal, Passport and 100 Pipers. New make is reduced with Rowantree Burn water and tankered to Keith for cask filling and maturation, since the distillery holds no warehousing on site.

Ex Bourbon American oak frames cask contribution on vanillin and oak lactones from the toasted and charred staves, with Maillard chemistry from hemicellulose oak sugars driving honey and vanilla. The clean American oak palette suits Allt-a-Bhainne's lighter blend filler spirit. Twelve years in ex Bourbon develops the cask interaction past its primary phase, with vanillin and oak lactones forward and Maillard chemistry building. The cleaner light Allt-a-Bhainne new make lets older cask interaction dominate, which suits the indie bottling tradition around the distillery.