Glenallachie 10 Years Old (French Oak Cask)

A 10 year old GlenAllachie, a distillery bottling, at 48%. It is one of GlenAllachie's Virgin Oak Series bottlings. GlenAllachie is a Speyside single malt, long a blending malt and now a sherry led name in its own right. It was built by Mackinlay McPherson, the firm that supplied whisky to Shackleton's 1907 expedition. It matures its spirit in sixteen dunnage warehouses on the distillery site at Aberlour.

It was worked unhurried through the stillhouse, giving a full bodied Speyside spirit. It was fully matured in a French Oak cask, the wood deep in the rich spirit. Through integration spirit and wood marry, vanillin rounding out as esters lend riper orchard fruit and a chocolate depth. Years in oak deepen the spirit to a darker gold, the body growing rounder and more resinous with time. The wood frames the spirit without ever stripping the full Speyside body.

At a hearty 48% it carries real weight. A rich orchard sweetness and dark sugar, with a spiced, tannic edge from the cask. The body is full and rich, the fruit deep and dark. Dried fruit, spice and a soft oak see it out. This is the sherry led malt of Aberlour.