Glenallachie Single Cask 14 Years Old 2006 (Cask 1450)

GlenAllachie from the distillery, a 14 year old, from 2006, cask 1450, at 60.3%, a festival bottling. GlenAllachie is a Speyside single malt, long a blending malt and now a sherry led name in its own right. It was founded in 1967, designed by the architect William Delme Evans, his fourth distillery after Jura and Tullibardine. It was mothballed in 1985 and reopened in 1989, a modern distillery by Speyside standards. Its water is the Lochnagar Burn, drawn down from the slopes of Ben Rinnes.

The spirit was run slowly off the spirit still, for the rich, sherried make GlenAllachie is known for. Maturation came in a Pedro Ximenez cask, layered over the full GlenAllachie make. Through integration spirit and wood marry, vanillin rounding out as esters lend riper orchard fruit and a chocolate depth. The full spirit deepens with time, the cask drawing out its darker register.

At a natural 60.3% it is full and rich. A rich, sherried sweetness, with raisin, date and treacle from the cask. It is full and fruity, the spirit carrying the cask. A long finish carries raisin, chocolate and a treacle. This is a Speyside single malt of real standing.