Allt-a-Bhainne 24 Years Old 1997 (Phil & Simon Thompson)

Distilled in 1997 and bottled by Phil & Simon Thompson in 2021, this is a 24 Years Old Allt-a-Bhainne at 43.2% ABV from ex Bourbon maturation. The release is one of 186 bottles, with the unusually low strength for a 24 Years Old indicating significant alcohol evaporation across the cask life in the Keith warehouses.

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. The drop to 43.2% across twenty four years indicates an evaporative warehouse environment where alcohol loss has exceeded water loss, producing a softer natural strength expression where the cask contribution and spirit character sit closer to the bottling drinking strength.