Allt-a-Bhainne 22 Years Old 1995 (Rest & be Thankful)

Distilled in 1995 and bottled by Rest & be Thankful Whisky Company in 2017, this is a 22 Years Old Allt-a-Bhainne at 54.4% ABV from ex Bourbon maturation. The release is one of 279 bottles. Rest & be Thankful Whisky Company is a Glasgow based independent bottler named after the well known Argyll mountain pass, focused on natural strength single cask releases.

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 ex Bourbon maturation produces a fully developed cask contribution, with Maillard products from hemicellulose oak sugar contact alongside vanillin and oak lactones giving a settled mature character.