Even though Glenallachie was an established high-capacity distillery, part of the Pernod Ricard group and supplying blends like Passport and 100 Pipers, they didn’t have an official bottling in recent years until this Glenallachie Distillery Edition came by. It’s a lower-end no age statement bottling that is found in many supermarkets around the UK.
It then came as a bit of a surprise (or perhaps not) that a few months after this first bottling the distillery was sold to Billy Walker and friends (ex-BenRiach, GlenDronach and Glenglassaugh). The distillery is now named The GlenAllachie (ha) and we’re keen to find out whether it can be upgraded with more single malt releases, and whether the upcoming GlenAllachie single casks can live up to expectations? Can a distillery as futile as this be premiumized?
The new GlenAllachie core range is due in June this year and will consist of a 10yo Cask Strength, a 12 Year Old, 18 Year Old and 25 Year Old. We hope to see some 1970s single casks as well, we’ve seen a few excellent 1972-1973 casks from independent bottlers, the Glenallachie 1973 Malts of Scotland springs to mind. They’ll use PX and Oloroso, as well as virgino oak cask finishing to improve the less convincing stocks.
Glenallachie Distillery Edition is aged in traditional (refill) ex-bourbon casks.
Glenallachie Distillery Edition
(40%, OB 2017)
Nose: gristy notes with sweet vanilla undertones. Golden apples, a little honey. Hints of lemon candy, milk biscuits and light toffee. Balance is okay and it’s all harmless.
Mouth: silky entry, not to say a bit weak, yet the bourbonny oak gets the biggest share. Cloves, a hint of alcohol. Then becoming creamier, with vanilla biscuits again, honey and yellow berries. Hints of ginger and lemons.
Finish: not too long, easy-going, with syrupy notes, malt, a little plain wood and spices.
Very cheap (sometimes discounted to £ 20) but quite decent as a beginner’s dram. Check Master of Malt for instance. Let’s hope they’ll find much better things in the warehouses to make a name with though.
Score: 78/100