Glenallachie 10 Year Cask Strength Batch 3

Review by: The Muskox

Normally, I’d be digging in to the lighter summerier drams at this time of the year, but so far may has been rainy and gross so I’m feeling something richer and sherried. With GlenDronach and Benriach starting to go down the tubes (according to some), Billy Walker’s latest distillery has some big shoes to fill.

Distillery: Glenallachie.

Bottler: Official bottling.

Region: Speyside.

ABV: 58.2%. Cask strength.

Age: 10 years.

Cask type: First-fill Oloroso, Pedro Ximenez, bourbon, and virgin American oak casks.

Price: N/A, sample.

Color: Dark gold. Natural Color. Non-chill-filtered.

Nose: Sweet and layered. Cinnamon-spiced fruitcake, orange sherbet, and cherry pie. Some lighter fruit too: cantaloupe, mango, and green apple. Rich vanilla, milk chocolate, and some peanut butter cookies. Honeycomb and maple syrup on blueberry pancakes. Butterscotch pudding, pistachio, and cardamom pods. Floral (white tea) and very slightly grassy.

Palate: Oily texture, with very little heat. Tangerine, peaches, and thick honey up front. Very sweet on the development, with heavy caramel, raisins, plums, and candy apples. The oak comes in coated in honey and vanilla-scented desserts, with toasted coconut, nutmeg, and nougat. Crème brulee and baklava. Cinnamon and cedar spice. Thicc honey and some green floral notes towards the back end.

Finish: Medium-long. English Breakfast with way too much honey in it. Rum raisin ice cream, cherries, nectarines, mango, and browned butter. Nutmeg, cinnamon, nougat, vanilla pods, and cocoa powder. Fortune cookies and Pepsi. Something slightly musky.

Possible SMWS bottling name: “Panic at the gelateria”

Conclusion: Really impressive stuff. Superbly drinkable at cask strength, with a great mouthfeel and long juicy finish. Great balance and complexity, with the Oloroso casks complimenting the spirit rather than dominating it. It’s filled with sumptuous dessert notes, but it isn’t even too sweet. In terms of comparable whiskies, this beats the pants off of A’bunadh, but isn’t quite as good to my palate as Arran Sherry Cask.

Final Score: 85.

Scoring Legend:

  • 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky.
  • 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category.
  • 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram.
  • 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff.
  • 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting.
  • 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better.
  • 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink.
  • 50-59: Save it for mixing.
  • 0-49: Blech.

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