Glenallachie Single Cask #9235 10 Years Old 2015 (Oloroso)

A 10 year old GlenAllachie, a distillery bottling, from 2015, cask 9235, at 56.3%, 351 bottles in all. GlenAllachie is a rich, sherried Speyside malt from Aberlour, built on full bodied spirit and active casks. It was built by Mackinlay McPherson, the firm that supplied whisky to Shackleton's 1907 expedition. It was designed almost entirely gravity fed, an efficient plant for its time. It was mothballed in 1985 and reopened in 1989, a modern distillery by Speyside standards.

It was taken gently through wash and spirit stills, giving a full bodied Speyside spirit. Maturation came in an Oloroso 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. Active first fill wood drives the maturation, the cask deep in the malt.

At a natural 56.3% it is full and rich. Fig, walnut and a bittersweet chocolate, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. Dried fruit and a treacle sit behind the spice. The finish runs long, full and warming. This is a dark, fruity Speyside single malt.