Glenallachie 9 Years Old 2014 Cask #23101 (Alambic Classique)

This GlenAllachie was bottled by Alambic Classique, a 9 year old, distilled in 2014, from cask 23101, at 63.9%, one of 637 bottles. GlenAllachie is a Speyside single malt, founded in 1967 below Ben Rinnes near Aberlour. It was designed almost entirely gravity fed, an efficient plant for its time. It was bought in 2017 by Billy Walker and two partners, fresh from selling BenRiach, GlenDronach and Glenglassaugh. 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, for the rich, sherried make GlenAllachie is known for. It was matured in an Oloroso cask, the wood working deep into the malt. 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.

Bottled at a cask strength 63.9%, it is deep and concentrated. Orange, raisin and a treacle edge, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. It is full and fruity, the spirit carrying the cask. A deep finish ends on dried fruit and a dark chocolate. This is a rich Speyside malt of dried fruit and chocolate.