Glenallachie 8 Years Old (Pedro Ximenez Cask)

GlenAllachie from the distillery, an 8 year old, at 46%. GlenAllachie is a Speyside single malt, long a blending malt and now a sherry led name in its own right. Under Walker it turned to single malt, with heavy maturation in sherry and wine casks. It was founded in 1967, designed by the architect William Delme Evans, his fourth distillery after Jura and Tullibardine.

It was distilled in copper pot stills, shaping a rich Speyside body with real weight. A Pedro Ximenez cask held it, drawing the rich spirit on over the years. In these extractive early years the oak gives vanillin as vanilla and lactones as coconut over orchard fruit and a dark sugar. Active first fill wood drives the maturation, the cask deep in the malt. The wood frames the spirit without ever stripping the full Speyside body. The full spirit deepens with time, the cask drawing out its darker register.

Bottled at 46%, it is rounded and full. A deep, dark sweetness, with raisin, date and treacle from the cask. The mouthfeel is full and coating, the fruit dark and sweet. The finish is long, rich and spiced. This is a full bodied Speyside single malt of real richness.