Glenallachie 13 Years Old 2004 Cask #3560 (A.D. Rattray)

A 13 year old GlenAllachie from A.D. Rattray, distilled in 2004, from cask 3560, at 60.4%, one of 254 bottles. GlenAllachie is a Speyside single malt from the hills above Aberlour, below Ben Rinnes. It was founded in 1967, designed by the architect William Delme Evans, his fourth distillery after Jura and Tullibardine. It was mothballed in 1985 and reopened in 1989, a modern distillery by Speyside standards. It was built for the 1960s blend boom, its make long destined for the blender's vat.

The spirit was worked unhurried through the stillhouse, for a full make built to take active wood. Ex-Bourbon casks held it, the American oak lending vanilla and a light honey. By the integrating teens the raw notes fade and esters build, the rich spirit growing rounder and darker. The casks are picked closely, the wood matched to the rich GlenAllachie make. Active first fill wood drives the maturation, the cask deep in the malt.

At a hearty 60.4% it carries real weight. Orange, raisin and a treacle edge, over a gentle, creamy oak. Fig, honey and a dark chocolate fill the middle. A deep finish ends on dried fruit and a dark chocolate. This is a deep, sherried Speyside single malt.