Review by: The Muskox
This was the 6th and final dram of the online Glenallachie tasting I attended the other week, which featured a guest appearance from none other than Billy Walker himself.
The final morsel of wisdom from Billy comes as his response to a question from one of the participants: What does it take to turn a distillery from characterless blend juice to collectable auction-market darling? For Billy, it’s all about maximum quality at every possible turn, starting with highest-quality barley. They also switched to a long fermentation, reaching 140-160 hours at Glenallachie, as Billy feels that a short fermentation just doesn’t give the full flavour experience. This has the side-effect of making wash distillation easier, since the mash is benign. Long fermentation and top-quality malt both negatively impact yield, but Billy don’t care. It must be nice to be the distillery’s master distiller and its owner!
Some additional news tidbits from Glenallachie: they’re planning on starting experiments with different yeast strains next year, and there’s peated Glenallachie coming (distilled in 2018, and already ready for bottling according to Billy)!
Finally we come to this bottling. This is a store pick for El Cerrito Liquors of Corona, California, and I barely know anything about it other than what’s printed on its gorgeous label.
Distillery: Glenallachie.
Bottler: El Cerrito Liquors.
Region: Speyside.
ABV: 49.4%, cask strength.
Age: 26 years old. Distilled in 1992. Bottled in 2019.
Cask type: Cask #1130, unknown.
Price: $250 in 2019 at El Cerrito Liquors.
Color: No colour added, un-chillfiltered.
Nose: Soft and malty. Bubbie’s mandelbread – sort of a Yiddish twice-baked biscotti, with lots of butter, cinnamon, almond, and browned cookie goodness. Crystallized pineapple, pear, orange zest, and grapefruit soda. Something slightly floral, and a little musty too, maybe some of my Bubbie’s extensive perfume collection as well. Buttered brioche toast and nougat. A little bit of wood glue.
A tiny dribble of water brought out tart stonefruit and intensified the buttered brioche.
Palate: Medium texture. Buttery coconut and tropical fruits on the arrival, then soft oak, rich fragrant flowers, creamy vanilla, and barley sugar in the middle. Vanilla meringue, éclair, white chocolate, and a dusting of nutmeg. Light citrus candies, peach, and pear. Just a tiny hint of earthiness and salt.
Water added an orange tang and extra butteriness.
Finish: Medium-length. Butterscotch fudge, lemon-poppyseed loaf, barley sugar, tropical fruit syrups, almonds, tangerine, and peach. A hint of sweet mint and papaya.
Possible SMWS bottling name: “Florida retirement community bake sale”
Notes: A soft and understated old whisky, though not the most complex. It still has that buttery character I was getting from the younger Glenallachies, but without as much of the fruit depth. It reminds me a bit of a less-complex Pittyvaich 30 with those floral notes. The water did help wake things up quite a bit. I should call my bubbie.
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.
Malt Runners 