Allt-a-Bhainne 23 Years Old 1996 (Berry Bros & Rudd)

Distilled in 1996 and bottled by Berry Bros & Rudd in 2020, this is a 23 Years Old Allt-a-Bhainne at 50.2% ABV from ex Bourbon maturation. Berry Bros & Rudd is a London wine and spirits merchant established in 1698 and holding two Royal Warrants, with an independent bottling programme that draws on the firm's deep relationships with Scottish distilleries.

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 three years of ex Bourbon maturation gives a fully mature profile, with vanillin and oak lactones now framed by extended Maillard products from toasted oak sugar contact and the slower oxidative changes that long matured single malt develops.