Glenallachie 13 Years Old 2008 Cask #3034029 (Duncan Taylor)

This GlenAllachie comes from Duncan Taylor, the cask house from Huntly in Aberdeenshire, a 13 year old, distilled in 2008, from cask 3034029, at 54.4%, one of the festival bottlings. GlenAllachie is a Speyside single malt, the home distillery of master distiller Billy Walker. It runs unusually long fermentations, up to a hundred and sixty hours, for a thick, ester rich and fruity spirit. It was built by Mackinlay McPherson, the firm that supplied whisky to Shackleton's 1907 expedition. It was designed almost entirely gravity fed, an efficient plant for its time.

The spirit was run slowly off the spirit still, for a thick, ester rich spirit the casks then deepen. An Oloroso cask held it, drawing the rich spirit on over the years. 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.

At a natural 54.4% it is full and rich. A rich, sherried sweetness, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. Dried fruit and a treacle sit behind the spice. It finishes long, full and fruity. This is a rich, sherried Speyside single malt.