Glenallachie 50th Anniversary Bottling 28 Years Old 1989

A distillery release of GlenAllachie, a 28 year old, from 1989, cask 986, at 57.7%, 428 bottles in all. 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 bought in 2017 by Billy Walker and two partners, fresh from selling BenRiach, GlenDronach and Glenglassaugh. It was designed almost entirely gravity fed, an efficient plant for its time.

The spirit was distilled in copper pot stills, giving a full bodied Speyside spirit. An Oloroso cask held it, drawing the rich spirit on over the years. In the oxidative, evaporative years the spirit concentrates to dried fruit, dark chocolate and a waxy, resinous depth. Active first fill wood drives the maturation, the cask deep in the malt. The full spirit deepens with time, the cask drawing out its darker register.

At its natural 57.7% it is rich and chewy. Raisin, chocolate and a warm spice, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. The body is full and rich, the fruit deep and dark. The finish runs long, full and warming. This is a deep, sherried Speyside single malt.