Glenallachie Single Cask for Europe – Batch 4 13 Years Old 2008

A distillery release of GlenAllachie, a 13 year old, from 2008, cask 6897, at 56.6%, 244 bottles in all. GlenAllachie is a Speyside single malt, the home distillery of master distiller Billy Walker. It was built for the 1960s blend boom, its make long destined for the blender's vat. It was founded in 1967, designed by the architect William Delme Evans, his fourth distillery after Jura and Tullibardine.

The spirit was run slowly off the spirit still, for the rich, sherried make GlenAllachie is known for. It rested in ex-Bourbon oak, oak lactones lending a creamy vanilla. By the integrating teens the raw notes fade and esters build, the rich spirit growing rounder and darker. Maturation runs slow and even in the on site dunnage warehouses at Aberlour. The casks are picked closely, the wood matched to the rich GlenAllachie make. The full bodied spirit takes active wood well, carrying its dark sugars through the years.

Bottled at a cask strength 56.6%, it is deep and concentrated. Baked apple, honey and a dark chocolate, over a gentle, creamy oak. Dried fruit and a treacle sit behind the spice. The finish is rounded, dark and spiced. This is the sherry led malt of Aberlour.