Allt-a-Bhainne 19 Years Old 1991 (Signatory Cask Strength Collection)

Distilled in 1991 and bottled by Signatory Vintage in 2011 under the Cask Strength Collection imprint, this is a 19 Years Old Allt-a-Bhainne at 55.6% ABV from ex Bourbon maturation. The release is one of 256 bottles. Signatory Vintage is a Pitlochry based independent bottler founded by Andrew Symington in 1988, with the Cask Strength Collection their flagship line of unreduced single cask single malts.

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. Nineteen years of ex Bourbon maturation fully develops the cask contribution, with vanillin and oak lactones joined by Maillard reaction products from extended contact between hemicellulose oak sugars and the spirit.