Glenallachie Single Cask 10 Years Old 2010 (Cask 4557)

GlenAllachie from the distillery, a 10 year old, from 2010, cask 4557, at 62.4%, 278 bottles in all. GlenAllachie is a Speyside single malt known for its heavy sherry and wine cask maturation. Its water is the Lochnagar Burn, drawn down from the slopes of Ben Rinnes.

Distilled to a full, generous cut, shaping a rich Speyside body with real weight. A refill bourbon hogshead held it, keeping the full character to the fore. By the integrating teens the raw notes fade and esters build, the rich spirit growing rounder and darker. Long ageing turns the fresh notes towards date, prune and a dark, bittersweet chocolate. The full bodied spirit takes active wood well, carrying its dark sugars through the years. Vanillin and oak lactones from the wood lend vanilla and a soft coconut over the fruit. Maturation runs slow and even in the on site dunnage warehouses at Aberlour.

At its natural 62.4% it is rich and chewy. Fig, walnut and a bittersweet chocolate, lifted by a sweet oak. A dark chocolate and a soft oak give it weight. The close is rich and dark, fruit over a warm spice. This is a dark, fruity Speyside single malt.