Glenallachie Cuvée Cask Finish 12 Years Old 2008

A distillery release of GlenAllachie, a 12 year old, from 2008, at 53.9%, 4761 bottles in all. This is part of the Cuvee Cask Finish. GlenAllachie is a Speyside single malt, the home distillery of master distiller Billy Walker. Under Walker it turned to single malt, with heavy maturation in sherry and wine casks. It was designed almost entirely gravity fed, an efficient plant for its time.

Distilled in copper pot stills, building a deep malt of dried fruit and dark sugar. Ex-Bourbon matured, it was given a finish in a Pinot Noir cask for a final sweetness. In integration coconut and vanilla knit with the malt, the orchard notes deepening to sultana, date and chocolate. 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. Active first fill wood drives the maturation, the cask deep in the malt.

At a natural 53.9% it is full and rich. A rich, sherried sweetness, with a soft red cherry and an earthy edge from the cask. A dark chocolate and a soft oak give it weight. The finish runs long, full and warming. This is a full bodied Speyside single malt of real richness.