GlenAllachie has launched Batch 4 of its 10 Year Old Cask Strength Whisky, along with the third installment of its single cask bottlings. All seven releases from the Speyside distillery are limited editions.
The GlenAllachie 10 Year Old Cask Strength Batch 4 mature in a mixture of Pedro Ximenez and Oloroso Sherry puncheons and a small number of virgin oak casks. Bottled at 56.1% ABV, just 2,600 cases of the Whisky will be released worldwide and are on sale for £58.99 ($79 USD).
On the nose, it delivers dark chocolate, vanilla pods and treacle aromas, with rich notes of orange peel and cinnamon. The palate offers lashings of raisins, treacle, dark chocolate, layers of heather honey, cinnamon and orange peel.
The third installment of GlenAllachie single casks consists of six cask strength single malts, all selected by Master Distiller Billy Walker from among the 50,000 casks in the distillery’s warehouses in Aberlour.
The batch of single casks consists of a 31-year-old Oloroso hogshead, a 15-year-old Virgin Oak, a 13-year-old First Fill Bourbon Barrel, a 12-year-old Ruby Port Pipe, a 12-year-old Rioja Barrel, and an 11-year-old Sauternes Barrel. All the bottles are hand-numbered, and offered at cask strength, natural colour and are non-chill filtered.
“There’s something magical about bottling whisky straight from the cask – without any water or colouring being added, this is whisky in its purest form,” noted Walker. “Batch 3 of our cask strength 10-year-old has set the bar high, but we’re excited to share this new bottling which has a perfect balance of fruit, dark chocolate and spice with the underlying classic sweet honey notes of the GlenAllachie.
“With our new instalment of single casks, we’re demonstrating the unique interaction of our spirit with different types of wood and how that creates incredible flavours. For example, the 31-year-old has intense flavours of dark chocolate, orange zest, grapefruit and ginger thanks to the greater interaction between spirit and wood provided by the slightly smaller Oloroso hogshead.”
The third installment of the GlenAllachie single cask series are described as follows:
GlenAllachie 31 Year Old Oloroso Hogshead cask # 6118 – 51.1%; £530 ($705 USD)
- Color: Rich Mahogany.
- Nose: Heather honey, mocha, nutmeg, pineapple and eucalyptus.
- Taste: Waves of dark chocolate, mocha and almonds, followed by orange zest, grapefruit and ginger.
GlenAllachie 15 Year Old Virgin Oak cask # 5182 – 57.6%; £106 ( $141 USD)
- Color: Sunset Bronze.
- Nose: Lashings of heather honey, vanilla pods and plantains, with notes of orange zest and ginger.
- Taste: Layers of heather honey, butterscotch and almonds with dark chocolate, orange zest and ginger.
GlenAllachie 13 Year Old First Fill Bourbon Barrel # 111860 – 58.6%; £96 ($128 USD)
- Color: Sunrise Gold.
- Nose: Orchard fruit, peaches, butterscotch and ginger.
- Taste: Brimming with heather honey, butterscotch and figs, with notes of ginger and grapefruit.
GlenAllachie 12 Year Old Ruby Port Pipe # 1867 – 52.3%; £90 ($120 USD)
- Color: Rich Ruby.
- Nose: Lashings of honey, treacle and grape must, with sweet spice and hints of dark chocolate.
- Taste: Waves of heather honey, vanilla and treacle, fused with cinnamon, rosehips and mocha.
GlenAllachie 12 Year Old Rioja Barrel # 3966 – 56.6%; £90 ($120 USD)
- Color: Golden Bronze.
- Nose: Waves of red berries, grape must, almonds and orange zest.
- Taste: Rich heather honey, sultanas and apricots, with barley sugar, orange zest, grapefruit and a hint of aniseed.
GlenAllachie 11 Year Old Sauternes Barrel # 3728 – 59.0%; £86 (about $114 USD)
- Color: Straw Gold.
- Nose: Heather honey, peaches, apricots and notes of ginger.
- Taste: Brimming with heather honey, peaches and apricots, fused with hazelnuts and grapefruit.