Time for some wood jugglery from GlenAllachie. We start this session with a GlenAllachie 2011 Vintage ‘Cuvée Cask Finish’, a French inspired concept from the hands of Billy Walker. It combines initial maturation in American oak barrels with a finish in three cask types: Pedro Ximénez puncheons, Madeira barriques and Port pipes. This bottling is exclusive to Kirsch Import in Germany.
The other one is a GlenAllachie 2008 bottled for Wine4You in Belgium. This was taken from a Missouri Chinquapin barrel.
GlenAllachie 2011 Vintage ‘Cuvée Cask Finish’ (54,9%, OB for Kirsch Import, PX / Madeira / Port finish)
Nose: a sweet and sour fruitiness at first, a mix of cranberries with strawberry jam and citrus. Then darker aromas come forward, like liquorice and hints of sweet coffee. Lemon pepper. Sweetness and brightness at the same time. I’m not the biggest fan of Port finishes and this only appears in the background.
Mouth: quite sweet again, with lots of red berries and jammy plums. Raisins too. Then the spicy oak sets in, with pepper, cinnamon and clove. Slightly more winey now, compared to the nose. Chocolate and coffee beans in the background. Subtle herbal bitterness and gingery notes towards the end.
Finish: long, always balancing between red fruits and more woody / spicy notes. Growing chocolate notes in the end.
A rather rich GlenAllachie, offering bits and pieces of different wine styles. An interesting experiment, not overly winey. Not perfect either, mind you. Available from plenty of German stores for around € 70.
GlenAllachie 12 yo 2008 (58,6%, OB for Wine4You, Chinquapin barrel #6915, 258 btl.)
Nose: lots of oranges and orange peels, gradually combined with jammy peaches and hints of Haribo bears. Yellow raisins and baked bananas. Very sweet and fruity, albeit with a fragrant hint of fresh wood shavings on top. Marshmallow and baking spice later on.
Mouth: still really sweet, but also spicy and slightly hot. Still marshmallows, vanilla, citrus candy and tinned apricots. Some heather honey and toffee. Mid-palate it offers big gingery notes, as well as some anise and white pepper. Drying notes of tobacco leaves in the end. Seville oranges and hints of cedar too.
Finish: long, always balancing between fruits and aromatic wood. Dried coconut. Developing a slight astringency as it fades.
Most of the experiences I’ve had with Chinquapin were so-so. That said, this particular cask leaves a better impression than the GlenAllachie 2010 they selected in Holland. The jammy fruits are really nice. Still some bottles available from Wine4You, if I’m not mistaken. Score: 85/100