Glenallachie 11 Years Old 2012 Small Batch Edition #8 (Signatory)

Signatory Vintage, the Edinburgh house that bottles at Edradour above Pitlochry, bottled this GlenAllachie, distilled in 2012, at 48.2%. GlenAllachie is a Speyside single malt, founded in 1967 below Ben Rinnes near Aberlour. It was bought in 2017 by Billy Walker and two partners, fresh from selling BenRiach, GlenDronach and Glenglassaugh. It was mothballed in 1985 and reopened in 1989, a modern distillery by Speyside standards. It runs unusually long fermentations, up to a hundred and sixty hours, for a thick, ester rich and fruity spirit.

Distilled in copper pot stills, for the rich, sherried make GlenAllachie is known for. It was matured in an Oloroso cask, the wood working deep into the malt. In integration coconut and vanilla knit with the malt, the orchard notes deepening to sultana, date and chocolate. Long ageing turns the fresh notes towards date, prune and a dark, bittersweet chocolate.

At a hearty 48.2% it carries real weight. Orange, raisin and a treacle edge, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. A baked apple and a warm cinnamon lift the middle. A long finish carries raisin, chocolate and a treacle. This is the sherry led malt of Aberlour.