Glenallachie Single Cask for Europe – Batch 1 12 Years Old 2006 (Cask 936)

GlenAllachie from the distillery, a 12 year old, from 2006, cask 936, at 61.4%, 695 bottles in all. GlenAllachie is a deep, dark Speyside malt of dried fruit, chocolate and spice. It was built for the 1960s blend boom, its make long destined for the blender's vat. It was mothballed in 1985 and reopened in 1989, a modern distillery by Speyside standards. It was built by Mackinlay McPherson, the firm that supplied whisky to Shackleton's 1907 expedition.

It was run slowly off the spirit still, for a full make built to take active wood. It was matured in a Pedro Ximenez cask, the wood working deep into the malt. Through integration spirit and wood marry, vanillin rounding out as esters lend riper orchard fruit and a chocolate depth. The full bodied spirit takes active wood well, carrying its dark sugars through the years. Years in oak deepen the spirit to a darker gold, the body growing rounder and more resinous with time.

At 61.4%, undiluted, it is dark and full. A deep, dark sweetness, with raisin, date and treacle from the cask. Dried fruit and a treacle sit behind the spice. A long finish carries raisin, chocolate and a treacle. This is a dark, fruity Speyside single malt.