Until recently, GlenAllachie was rarely seen as a single malt. Then in 2017 a consortium around Billy Walker, who had sold BenRiach and GlenDronach, bought the distillery and gave it a major overhaul, including an entire core range of four expressions: GlenAllachie 10 Years, 12 Years, 18 Years and 25 Years.
We’ll start in the upper range with the GlenAllachie 18 Year Old, which is matured in a combination of bourbon, Oloroso, Pedro Ximénez and virgin oak casks (although sources seem to differ).
GlenAllachie 18 yo
(46%, OB 2018)
GlenAllachie 18 yoNose: very fresh, with a bright combination of vanilla cake, orange peel, green bananas and a hint of pink grapefruit. A slight hint of multivitamin juice and blossoms. Underneath there is some toffee and medium oak spices (pepper, cinnamon).
Mouth: big barley notes, plus apples and pears, caramel sweetness and heather honey. Raisins. Almonds and baking spices, now also ginger and grass. A bittersweet edge (lemon zest).
Finish: fairly long, with ginger, vanilla and bitter wood.
A good composition of different cask types and overall a fairly enjoyable whisky. But it doesn’t excel in any way and stays too much in the neutral middle, with a complexity that is perhaps below par given the age. Available from The Whisky Exchange or Master of Malt, among others.
Score: 82/100