Glenallachie Single Cask 12 Years Old 2010 (Cask 5139)

This official GlenAllachie, a 12 year old, from 2010, cask 5139, at 56.6%, 697 bottles in all. GlenAllachie is a Speyside single malt from the hills above Aberlour, below Ben Rinnes. It was designed almost entirely gravity fed, an efficient plant for its time. It matures its spirit in sixteen dunnage warehouses on the distillery site at Aberlour. Its stills were doubled from two to four within months of opening, the lyne arms angled down for a fuller spirit.

Distilled in copper pot stills, for the rich, sherried make GlenAllachie is known for. It was fully matured in an Oloroso cask, the wood deep in the rich spirit. 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 spirit deepens with time, the cask drawing out its darker register.

At 56.6%, undiluted, it is dark and full. Fig, walnut and a bittersweet chocolate, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. A baked apple and a warm cinnamon lift the middle. Dried fruit, spice and a soft oak see it out. This is a deep, sherried Speyside single malt.