Whisky Tasting: Glenallachie

Cabal (or half of it, one had skivved off on holiday and the other wasn't drinking?! leaving Blair and I to insult other patrons all on our lonesome) was back to Regional for this one where we drank lots of Glenallachie. First built in 1967 the distillery worked until the mid 80s when it was mothballed (more detailed on their website), kicked off again in the late 80s, and more importantly for this tasting, was bought by a consortium including Billy Walker in 2017.

GlenAllachie 18yo 46%

• N: dry, lemonade, spritzic, apples, bourbon/oak
• P: sweet, apples, tangy, spritzic, fruit sours
• F: med, sour

8/10. Excellent start to the evening. 

GlenAllachie 12yo PX finish 48%

• N: sweet, pale, citrus, bourbon, musty, solvent
• P: sweet, sherry, honey, very warm
• F: long, tart/dry

7.5/10 Interesting and previously a sherry finish :)

GlenAllachie 15yo 46%

• N: sweet, sherry, muscavado sugar, hazelnuts, aged?, musty
• P: not long, sherry, xmas cake, sticky
• F: med, sour

8/10 still good. consistently good actually

GlenAllachie 10yo Batch4 Cask Strength 56.1%

• N: muscatels, sherry, sweet, muscovado sugar, musty, woody
• P: big, sherry, spicy, coriander, caramel
• F: long, spicy

9/10 maybe 9.5/10. look i like sherry monsters...

GlenAllachie Dramfest [mystery whisky]

• N: sweet, marshmallow, creamy bourbon, acetone
• P: sweet, not complex, spritzic, sherbert
• F: med, warm

7/10 not great, pretty bland given the company it was in

GlenAllachie 10yo Batch3 Cask Strength 58.2%

• N: sweet, parma violets, strawberry
• P: spritzic, citrus, coffee, spicy
• F: long

8/10 good, but not great like the Batch4.

GlenAllachie 10yo Batch2 Cask Strength 54.8%

• N: sweet, apples, toffee, butterscotch, musty, bourbon
• P: lemonade, spicy
• F: long, spicy hot

7/10 apparently the older, less Billy'd Batch's are not as good as the new ones. Huzzah !

GlenAllachie 10yo Batch1 Cask Strength 57.1%

• N: apples, light, tangy, bourbon, 
• P: spicy, 
• F: med-short

7/10 

Overall, well I'm liking where they're heading. All the newer ones, with bonus-Billy, are great. Definitely worth keeping an eye on them....

B

Whisky Tasting: The Casual Dram - Library 02

 The usual tastings have franchised with a spin off being run at the Library bar in Courtney Place. This is a far more informal tasting, there are some notes, and you can drink whenever you want. Organised by John from Regional, there's no real theme other than interesting/good whisky. Oh and we tasted blind.

Hazelburn 13yo Oloroso Cask Matured 50.3%

• N: sulphur, eggs, PVA glue
• P: tangy, xmas cake, buttery, sweet, heat, toffee, sticky
• F: salt, med-long

8.5/10 - this was the mystery, and just reconfirms my love of Hazelburn. Definitely recommended.

Highland Park The Dark 17yo b.2017 52.9%

• N: light smoke, coastal
• P: low alc, complex, warm, sweet, spicy, salty
• F: warm, hot, long

7/10 lacked a bit of interest, but as usual HP deliver a good whisky.

Springbank Madeira Cask Finish 17yo 47.8%

• N: sweet, coastal, pineapple, watery, no salt
• P: light, parmesan
• F: short

6/10 Dunno I seem to have gone off Springbank, or rather the ones I've had recently. Seemed flat and one dimensional.

SMWS 10.188 New Acquaintance Bunnhabhain 14yo refill ex-sherry butt 489 bottles, 62.5%

• N: dusty sweet muscatels, ginger
• P: big, sweet, madeira?, sherry, high alc, spicy
• F: long, hot

8/10. Thanks to Neil I've become more of a fan of Bunnhabhain, and this was a very nice whisky.

Good night, relaxed atmosphere, nice venue, excellent whisky. All win from my perspective.

Slainte,