Glenallachie 6 Years Old 2008 Cask #900699 (Duncan Taylor)

A GlenAllachie of a 6 year old chosen by Duncan Taylor, distilled in 2008, from cask 900699, at 54.7%, one of 351 bottles. GlenAllachie is a Speyside single malt, revived in 2017 by the team of Billy Walker. It was founded in 1967, designed by the architect William Delme Evans, his fourth distillery after Jura and Tullibardine. It was designed almost entirely gravity fed, an efficient plant for its time.

Worked unhurried through the stillhouse, giving a full bodied Speyside spirit. Ex-Bourbon casks held it, the American oak lending vanilla and a light honey. In these extractive early years the oak gives vanillin as vanilla and lactones as coconut over orchard fruit and a dark sugar. The casks are picked closely, the wood matched to the rich GlenAllachie make. The full spirit deepens with time, the cask drawing out its darker register. Maturation runs slow and even in the on site dunnage warehouses at Aberlour.

At 54.7%, undiluted, it is dark and full. A rich orchard sweetness and dark sugar, over a gentle, creamy oak. A baked apple and a warm cinnamon lift the middle. The finish is rounded, dark and spiced. This is a dark, fruity Speyside single malt.