Glenallachie 10 Years Old Cask #Batch 1

A 10 year old GlenAllachie, a distillery bottling, cask Batch 1, at 57.1%. GlenAllachie is a Speyside single malt, founded in 1967 below Ben Rinnes near Aberlour. Its water is the Lochnagar Burn, drawn down from the slopes of Ben Rinnes. It was designed almost entirely gravity fed, an efficient plant for its time.

It was taken gently through wash and spirit stills, for a full make built to take active wood. Maturation came in a Pedro Ximenez cask, layered over the full GlenAllachie make. Through integration spirit and wood marry, vanillin rounding out as esters lend riper orchard fruit and a chocolate depth. The full bodied spirit takes active wood well, carrying its dark sugars through the years. Active first fill wood drives the maturation, the cask deep in the malt. The full spirit deepens with time, the cask drawing out its darker register. Years in oak deepen the spirit to a darker gold, the body growing rounder and more resinous with time.

At a natural 57.1% it is full and rich. Date, fig and a warm cinnamon, with raisin, date and treacle from the cask. Fig, honey and a dark chocolate fill the middle. It finishes long, full and fruity. This is a full bodied Speyside single malt of real richness.