Glenallachie Single Cask 14 Years Old 2010 (Cask 2471)

GlenAllachie from the distillery, a 14 year old, from 2010, cask 2471, at 56.3%, 166 bottles in all. GlenAllachie is a Speyside single malt, the home distillery of master distiller Billy Walker. It was designed almost entirely gravity fed, an efficient plant for its time. It was founded in 1967, designed by the architect William Delme Evans, his fourth distillery after Jura and Tullibardine. Its stills were doubled from two to four within months of opening, the lyne arms angled down for a fuller spirit.

It was distilled in copper pot stills, for a full make built to take active wood. An ex-Bourbon barrel shaped it, vanillin and a soft coconut under the malt. By the integrating teens the raw notes fade and esters build, the rich spirit growing rounder and darker. Active first fill wood drives the maturation, the cask deep in the malt. The full spirit deepens with time, the cask drawing out its darker register.

Bottled at a cask strength 56.3%, it is deep and concentrated. A rich, sherried sweetness, lifted by a sweet oak. A dark chocolate and a soft oak give it weight. The finish runs long, full and warming. This is GlenAllachie's deep, fruity Speyside style.