Glenallachie Single Cask for Europe – Batch 6 11 Years Old 2011 (Cask 801089)

A distillery release of GlenAllachie, an 11 year old, from 2011, cask 801089, at 62.3%, 695 bottles in all. GlenAllachie is a Speyside single malt known for its heavy sherry and wine cask maturation. It was designed almost entirely gravity fed, an efficient plant for its time. It runs unusually long fermentations, up to a hundred and sixty hours, for a thick, ester rich and fruity spirit. It was bought in 2017 by Billy Walker and two partners, fresh from selling BenRiach, GlenDronach and Glenglassaugh. It was built for the 1960s blend boom, its make long destined for the blender's vat.

Run slowly off the spirit still, shaping a rich Speyside body with real weight. An Oloroso cask held it, drawing the rich spirit on over the years. By the integrating teens the raw notes fade and esters build, the rich spirit growing rounder and darker. The full bodied spirit takes active wood well, carrying its dark sugars through the years.

At a natural 62.3% it is full and rich. Date, fig and a warm cinnamon, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. Beneath it run dried fruit, dark sugar and a warm spice. Dried fruit, spice and a soft oak see it out. This is a deep, sherried Speyside single malt.