Glenallachie 21 Years Old 2005 Cask #900273 (Signatory)

Signatory Vintage, the Edinburgh house that bottles at Edradour above Pitlochry, bottled this GlenAllachie, distilled in 2005, from cask 900273, at 63.1%, one of 607 bottles. GlenAllachie is a Speyside single malt, long a blending malt and now a sherry led name in its own right. It was mothballed in 1985 and reopened in 1989, a modern distillery by Speyside standards. It was bought in 2017 by Billy Walker and two partners, fresh from selling BenRiach, GlenDronach and Glenglassaugh.

Drawn from a thick, full bodied wash, for a full make built to take active wood. It was fully matured in an Oloroso cask, the wood deep in the rich spirit. Through oxidative maturity the esters concentrate, the orchard notes turning to raisin, fig and a dark chocolate. Vanillin and oak lactones from the wood lend vanilla and a soft coconut over the fruit. The wood frames the spirit without ever stripping the full Speyside body.

At 63.1%, undiluted, it is dark and full. Baked apple, honey and a dark chocolate, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. A dark chocolate and a soft oak give it weight. Dried fruit, spice and a soft oak see it out. This is a full bodied Speyside single malt of real richness.