Glenallachie Batch 1 29 Years Old 1989

A distillery release of GlenAllachie, a 29 year old, from 1989, cask 100049, at 58.1%, 485 bottles in all. GlenAllachie is a Speyside single malt, long a blending malt and now a sherry led name in its own right. It matures its spirit in sixteen dunnage warehouses on the distillery site at Aberlour. Its water is the Lochnagar Burn, drawn down from the slopes of Ben Rinnes.

It was distilled in copper pot stills, for a thick, ester rich spirit the casks then deepen. It was matured in an Oloroso cask, the wood working deep into the malt. Through the evaporative decades the esters fold into raisin, fig, beeswax and a bittersweet chocolate. 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. Years in oak deepen the spirit to a darker gold, the body growing rounder and more resinous with time.

At a natural 58.1% it is full and rich. Date, fig and a warm cinnamon, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. A dark chocolate and a soft oak give it weight. It finishes long, full and fruity. This is a dark, fruity Speyside single malt.