Tastes

Nose: Sweet sherry, wine, dark fruit Palate: Chocolate cherries, figs, apricots Finish: Cocoa, coffee, fruit cake. Distilled: July 2008 Bottled: February 2020 1 of 773 bottles Matured in a single Pedro Ximenez puncheon over the entire maturation period. This is a serious sherry bomb! I am a big fan of Glenallachie. I especially like some of their single casks and indie bottlings, the spirit stands up well to experimentation and seems to thrive in the hands of enthusiasts. This expression is a real stand out. There is a tangible unicorn feel to this dram. It’s an absolute cracker!

Nose: Acetone, sweet, honey Palate: Coffee, dark chocolate, burned oak. Full bodied. Finish: Medium/short finish. Toast, chocolate covered coffee beans. Quickly dissipates in the finish. There’s a somewhat watered down feel to this whisky. It’s not as sweet as many standard bourbons, but to my palate it lacks a little depth.

Nose: Sweet, warm, buttery, caramel Palate: Waxy mouthfeel, buttery, spices (peppercorn and chilli), chocolate, oil, oak/nutty, salt Finish: Chocolate, bitter, vanilla. Long finish. Interesting dram. I’ve had this dozens of times in cocktails and with a mixer, but I’ve never had it as a dram in it’s own right. It is a little ‘hot’, it is unrefined and inelegant, but it’s perfectly drinkable. It suffers by comparison to other whiskies, but I’d happily have a few (although the initial raw alcohol hit may dampen my enthusiasm for one more...!)

Nose: Honey, orange, oak Palate: Rich, orange zest, butterscotch, sweet/spicy Finish: Oak, spicy, sweet, nutty This was an interesting dram. I’ve had this dozens of times before with a mixer or as a cocktail, but on its own it actually stands up reasonably well. It’s not refined, don’t expect waves and layers of flavours, but it’s pretty decent. For my preference, I’d still chose to use this in an old fashioned. It’s not a neat dram I’ll go back to, but, for what it is, it’s OK.

(The GlenAllachie Virgin Oak Series Virtual Tasting with Billy Walker, 12th November 2020). 50% Oloroso sherry cask, mainly virgin oak for the balance Nose: Dark chocolate, cinnamon & ginger, dried dark fruit (raisin/prune) Palate: Honey, raisin & cranberries, chocolate. Loads of juicy dark/dried fruit. Lovely mouthfeel. Finish: Orange, chocolate, toast (?), slightly drying. A warming, almost Chritmassy dram. There's less of the honey/orange that I always think of from GlenAllachie, but this is a delicious, easy drinking dram. Lovely!

(The GlenAllachie Virgin Oak Series Virtual Tasting with Billy Walker, 12th November 2020). Chinquapin oak from Missouri. Most of its life the spirit was in American bourbon barrels, with an 18month finishing period in the virgin American Chinquapin oak cask. Casks were air dried for 48 months before use. Nose: Honey, orange, herbal Palate: Heather honey, buttery mouthfeel, barley sugar, spices (cumin, green spices), black pepper Finish: Floral, black pepper, baked biscuits As with the rest of the virgin oak range, you can pick out the distillery signature note of honey and a little spice. A good, well made dram with some real depth and layers of flavour.

(The GlenAllachie Virgin Oak Series Virtual Tasting with Billy Walker, 12th November 2020). French oak from France. Most of its life the spirit was in American bourbon barrels, with an 18month finishing period in the virgin French oak cask. Casks were air dried for 15 months before use. Nose: Honey, orange Palate: Heather honey, coffee, damp basement / earthy Finish: Coffee, slightly bitter grapefruit. A long numbing finish. As with the rest of the virgin oak range, you can pick out the distillery signature note of honey and a little spice. A good, well made dram.

(The GlenAllachie Virgin Oak Series Virtual Tasting with Billy Walker, 12th November 2020). Spanish oak from North West Spain. Most of its life the spirit was in American bourbon barrels, with an 18month finishing period in the virgin Spanish oak cask (medium toast, medium char). Nose: Honey, coconut, orange, spice Palate: Treacle, heather honey, orange, cocoa, spice (cinnamon, allspice). Slightly 'hot'. Finish: Citrus/orange, cinnamon vanilla, oak char, ginger. Overall, this is a very warming dram. As with the rest of the virgin oak range, you can pick out the distillery signature note of honey and a little spice. A good, well made dram.

Nose: Not much on the nose. A little whisp of smoke, some summer fruit and berries Palate: Summer fruit, vanilla, slightly floral. Light, sweet peat smoke. A little sickly. Germolene. Finish: Short. A little smoke, citrus & apple. There’s not much to this whisky. It’s very sweet, and has a little highland peat smoke. Instantly forgotten.

Nose: Frazzles crisps, charcoal, BBQ Palate: Smoke, peat and seaweed. Quite sweet. Finish: Medium long finish. Peppery, sweet and a little musty. Like many of the undisclosed Islay, this was distilled at the Caol Ila distillery. You can tell immediately that this is a well made whisky, but it doesn’t have much character to it. It’s a decent dram, but there are better Islay’s at this price point and lower.