Glenallachie 22 Years Old 1995 Cask #79 (Whiskybase.com)

Whiskybase.com bottled this GlenAllachie, a 22 year old, distilled in 1995, from cask 79, at 51.8%, one of the festival bottlings. GlenAllachie is a Speyside single malt known for its heavy sherry and wine cask maturation. It was founded in 1967, designed by the architect William Delme Evans, his fourth distillery after Jura and Tullibardine. 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, giving a full bodied Speyside spirit. It rested in ex-Bourbon oak, oak lactones lending a creamy vanilla. In the oxidative, evaporative years the spirit concentrates to dried fruit, dark chocolate and a waxy, resinous depth. Years in oak deepen the spirit to a darker gold, the body growing rounder and more resinous with time. Active first fill wood drives the maturation, the cask deep in the malt.

At its natural 51.8% it is rich and chewy. A deep, dark sweetness, with a warm oak spice. The mouthfeel is full and coating, the fruit dark and sweet. The finish is rounded, dark and spiced. This is the sherry led malt of Aberlour.