In September 2020 Royal Mile Whiskies organised a virtual GlenAllachie tasting with Billy Walker. The audience could also vote for two samples that would be bottled as a RMW exclusive.
The winning whisky was this GlenAllachie 2006 cask #1450, a whisky that was matured in a first-fill bourbon cask until March 2018 before it was re-racked into a first-fill Pedro Ximénez puncheon for 31 months. Although it was a fresh PX cask, it came out with a rather pale golden colour.
GlenAllachie 14 yo 2006 (60,3%, OB for Royal Mile Whiskies 2020, PX puncheon #1450, 617 btl.)
Nose: there’s still a malty and big bourbonny side to it (minty notes, vanilla custard), with sultanas and yellow plums on the side. Heather honey and hints of burnt pineapple. Some fruit cake with orange peels, especially with a drop of water. A little candied ginger and nutmeg.
Mouth: a lot of malty, bready notes, with a lot of spicy punch and a hot chilli note. Orange peels and other fruity notes, as well as some oak spice and a bit of herbal / minty syrup. Black peppercorns and ginger, some heavy wood chip notes as well. Cardamom. There’s definitely some butterscotch and syrupy sweetness, but this feels more like an active bourbon cask than a classic PX.
Finish: medium, very spice-forward. Mint, pepper, toasted wood a little lemon peel and some plain tannins.
An interesting cask, definitely not the classic Pedro Ximénez profile you would expect. The oak spices are quite prominent and are slightly over the top on the palate. A curious hybrid of bourbon and sherry. Still available from Royal Mile Whiskies.