GlenAllachie 8 year old (2022)

Glenallachie is but a baby distillery, born in 1967, younger than some of you handsome readers. Despite its limited existence, it has already been closed and reopened, while seeing a quartet of owners. It was founded by Mackinlay, McPherson, and Co., a branch of Newcastle Breweries. Newcastle then sent the brand over to Invergordon Distillers in 1985, where it stayed all of four years. Pernod Ricard bought it in 1989 and kept it until 2017 when, for the facility's semicentennial, Glenallachie was purchased by a group including former Glendronach Magician, Billy Walker.

For its first 50 years (or 48, because it was closed for two), Glenallachie's malt was used primarily for its owners' blends, but since 2017 the market has seen shipping containers full of its official single malts. Because the company has also bottled many dark-colored single sherry casks, the single malt has gained quite a fanbase, a group of which I am not a member. Walker's persistence in using new oak in most(?) of Glenallachie's standard releases has resulted in products that aren't suited to my palate. But since I like to pretend that I have an open mind, I will try six Glenallachies (including one retry) over the next two weeks.

First appearing on the market in 2022, the Glenallachie 8-year-old was distilled by Pernod Ricard, but then blended by the new company. And by "blended", I mean it includes PX, Oloroso, new oak casks, and wine barriques. Sort of a Long Island Iced Tea approach to a single malt.

Distillery: Glenallachie

Ownership: The GlenAllachie Distillers Company Ltd

Region: Speyside (Aberlour)

Age: minimum 8 years old

Maturation: PX, oloroso, virgin oak casks, and wine barriques
Bottling year: 2022

Alcohol by Volume: 46%

Chillfiltration? No

Colorant? No

(from a bottle split)

NOTES

A whiff of comfy extracts, like almond, vanilla, and maple hit the nose first, followed by grape jam, toffee, dried cranberries, and almond butter.

The palate comes in sweet with a bit of wine separation. It settles into cherry syrup, black raisins, and root beer candies, with a slight peppery tannic bite in the background.

It finishes with the black raisins and cherry syrup up front, and peppery, tangy notes in the back.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Though the whisky is a bit discombobulated, it's not a total mess. It has an enjoyable nose, and the palate works as a casual, background thing. Nothing sets it apart from other official sherried whiskies, since so many of them have also not been afforded the time to let their ingredients merge into a coordinated experience. This is just a whole lotta words that mean: this whisky is okay.

Availability - Whisky specialist retailers in the US and Europe
Pricing - US: $60-$80; Europe: $35-$60
Rating - 81