GlenAllachie distillery just announced a rebranding with new labels. Their strategy won’t change though, so expect more wood finishes and slightly spin-doctored recipes. Today we’ll have a couple of good examples, starting with a 13 year old Oloroso release exclusive to the German market (through Kirsch Import). In the same vain we have a single PX puncheon for The Netherlands.
The third one is a wide-scale release, a 2012 vintage Cuvée Cask Finish. This whisky aged in ex-bourbon American oak, before being finished for 20 months in four types of European red wine (Languedoc, Recioto Della Valpolicella and two undisclosed Premier Cru Classés in Bordeaux).
GlenAllachie 13 yo – Oloroso wood finish (48%, OB for Germany 2022)
Nose: clean, fairly modern sherry. Figs, sour plums and cherries, as well as some high-pitched citrus notes. Then caramel coated walnuts and almonds. Vanilla but not too much, with some creamy toffee and honey in the background. I really like this.
Mouth: a nice oily texture. Spicy notes are claiming more space (pepper and ginger) with dark fruits, like figs, rum & raisins, blackberries. Toffee, caramelized nuts and dates. Then some leathery notes and chocolate towards the end.
Finish: quite long, with a slightly boozy raisin theme, ginger and slightly bitter wood.
A very fine, modern sherry cask. The nose is great and the same quality carries through on the palate. Only in the finish does it loose some of its elegance. There are still places in Germany where you can find a bottle.
GlenAllachie 9 yo 2012 – Cuvée Cask Finish (48%, OB ‘Wine Series’ 2022, 6800 btl.)
Mouth: really winey again, with plenty of bittersweet notes. Hazelnuts with strawberries and banana. Then leathery notes, clove, some rubber and leafy notes. Also roasted malt, gingerbread spice and mild chocolate.
Finish: on the short side, with some leafy sourness, drying spice and cocoa. Actually the aftertaste is not bad.
Overall not my kinda whisky. It feels rushed and the wine is too much ‘in your face’. I have another set of GlenAllachie bottlings from individual red wine casks, but I think I’ll just keep them closed for now. Still available from The Whisky Exchange or Master of Malt for instance. Score: 72/100
GlenAllachie 12 yo 2011 (61%, OB for The Netherlands 2023, PX puncheon #807022, 707 btl.)
Mouth: slightly gooey. It starts on caramelized apple and pear syrup, red fruit jam, brambles, pipe tobacco, as well as sticky toffee pudding and stroopwafel. This evolves towards cocoa, spiced orange, prunes, Coca-Cola and yet another hint of smoke. Some wood spice too, but the sweetness keeps the upper hand.
Finish: very long, a combination of peppery spice, cinnamon drops and cocoa.
A rather baroque PX cask, but well executed. The sweet and velvety wine meets active wood and the result is really enjoyable. You can still find a bottle at Whiskysite.nl for instance. Score: 86/100