Allt-a-Bhainne 22 Years Old 1993 Old Train Line (Jack Wiebers)

Distilled in 1993 and bottled by Jack Wiebers Whisky World in 2015 under the Old Train Line imprint, this is a 22 Years Old Allt-a-Bhainne at 51.8% ABV from ex Bourbon maturation. The release is one of 282 bottles. Jack Wiebers Whisky World is a German independent bottler known for themed label series, with Old Train Line covering single cask releases bottled with vintage railway imagery.

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. Twenty two years of cask interaction develops the ex Bourbon profile into deep maturity, with the slower Maillard chemistry of toasted oak sugars now providing a fully integrated honey and developed lactone foundation.