Glenallachie Single Cask 31 Years Old 1989 (Cask 6118)

A 31 year old GlenAllachie, a distillery bottling, from 1989, cask 6118, at 51.1%, 339 bottles in all. GlenAllachie is a deep, dark Speyside malt of dried fruit, chocolate and spice. It runs unusually long fermentations, up to a hundred and sixty hours, for a thick, ester rich and fruity spirit.

Run slowly off the spirit still, giving a full bodied Speyside spirit. Maturation came in an Oloroso cask, layered over the full GlenAllachie make. Ethereal and fragile, the decades draw it to a resinous, waxy depth of dried fruit, treacle and old oak. The casks are picked closely, the wood matched to the rich GlenAllachie make. Years in oak deepen the spirit to a darker gold, the body growing rounder and more resinous with time. Vanillin and oak lactones from the wood lend vanilla and a soft coconut over the fruit. Long ageing turns the fresh notes towards date, prune and a dark, bittersweet chocolate.

At a hearty 51.1% it carries real weight. Baked apple, honey and a dark chocolate, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. Beneath it run dried fruit, dark sugar and a warm spice. The finish is rounded, dark and spiced. This is a dark, fruity Speyside single malt.