Glenallachie 8 Years Old 2011 Cask #3024583 (Duncan Taylor)

A GlenAllachie of an 8 year old chosen by Duncan Taylor, distilled in 2011, from cask 3024583, at 54.6%, one of 91 bottles. GlenAllachie is a Speyside single malt, the home distillery of master distiller Billy Walker. It was designed almost entirely gravity fed, an efficient plant for its time.

It was taken gently through wash and spirit stills, for a thick, ester rich spirit the casks then deepen. It was fully matured in an Oloroso cask, the wood deep in the rich spirit. 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. Long ageing turns the fresh notes towards date, prune and a dark, bittersweet chocolate. Maturation runs slow and even in the on site dunnage warehouses at Aberlour. The full bodied spirit takes active wood well, carrying its dark sugars through the years.

Bottled at a cask strength 54.6%, it is deep and concentrated. A rich, sherried sweetness, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. A baked apple and a warm cinnamon lift the middle. It finishes long, full and fruity. This is a Speyside single malt of real standing.