GlenAllachie 12 Year Old Chinquapin (US) Oak

Un miel floral sur un bois plus vert et moins épicé que le French Oak, un alcool plus apparent en finale aussi, un whisky simple mais efficace, avec quelques douces épices en finale comme la muscade.

(Good Spirits Co. Glasgow – Virtual Whisky Tasting, 07 May 2021). 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. (I have copied my tasting notes from the last tasting, I had taken notes during the tasting and they were almost identical!) 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. Came joint last out of the six drams, with 0% of the final vote for favourite of the night. 86% of those present said they enjoyed the whisky.

Young and fresh with some typical oak-only characteristics. I’m not too familiar with the styles of different oak types so I can’t really make out a difference to European oak. It is good though. Fruity, some spices, good amount of florals. Surprisingly I don’t vanilla or citrus notes, which was what I expected. The mouthfeel is also fresh and lively. It develops some sweet berry flavors after a while and then settles with spicy wood (the fresh cut kind) with soft caramel notes. Becomes really malty later and fairly sweet. Nice and quite interesting but not exiting enough. It feels quite young though with a edgy alcoholic burn.

(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.