After The GlenAllachie was taken over by Billy Walker’s team they presented a series of 50th Anniversary bottlings, single casks released in 50 cl bottles. They were quite old (distilled 1978 – 1991) so we’re trying one of the younger casks: GlenAllachie 1990 cask #2517, a sherry butt. It is considered to have been a ‘prequel’ series with more single cask following soon.
GlenAllachie 27 yo 1990 (54,6%, OB ‘50th Anniversary’ 2018, sherry butt #2517, 50cl, 144 btl.)
Nose: fairly neutral, on yellow apples, golden raisins and bready notes. Oranges with cloves, subtle nutty notes. Hints of ripe banana and ripe berries in the background, as well as some buttercups and hay.
Mouth: powerful alcohol but less flavour than expected. More sherried now, especially showing spicy / herbal notes (pepper, cloves, ginger) including light tannins and then restrained fruity notes (mango, dried pineapple and some blackberries). Fades on chocolate and mint.
Finish: medium long, spicy with jammy fruits and oak.
Flavoursome, including nice fruity notes on the palate, but somehow it is also quite shy, leaving room for the spices taking over. No stunner, rather in the ‘interesting’ category. Still available from The Whisky Exchange.
Score: 87/100