Glenallachie Single Cask for Europe – Batch 7 11 Years Old 2012

A distillery release of GlenAllachie, an 11 year old, from 2012, cask 2930, at 62.4%, 321 bottles in all. GlenAllachie is a Speyside single malt from the hills above Aberlour, below Ben Rinnes. It was built by Mackinlay McPherson, the firm that supplied whisky to Shackleton's 1907 expedition. It was bought in 2017 by Billy Walker and two partners, fresh from selling BenRiach, GlenDronach and Glenglassaugh.

It was taken gently through wash and spirit stills, giving a full bodied Speyside spirit. It was matured in a Moscatel cask, the wood working deep into the malt. In integration coconut and vanilla knit with the malt, the orchard notes deepening to sultana, date and chocolate. Vanillin and oak lactones from the wood lend vanilla and a soft coconut over the fruit. Active first fill wood drives the maturation, the cask deep in the malt.

Bottled at a cask strength 62.4%, it is deep and concentrated. Date, fig and a warm cinnamon, with a grapey, floral sweetness from the cask. Beneath it run dried fruit, dark sugar and a warm spice. The close is rich and dark, fruit over a warm spice. This is a rich, sherried Speyside single malt.