Review #120 - GlenAllachie 12 Year
12 Year Speysider Series: Part 6 of 7
Part 6 of our series is heading to GlenAllachie, Billy Walker's latest project. Located near Aberlour in the Speyside region of Scotland, this distillery was taken over by Billy and his team in 2017, when they purchased it from Chivas Brothers. This actually isn't a particularly old distillery in the first place - opened in 1967, it certainly isn't 'new,' but much newer than the stalwarts of Scotch whisky that opened in the late 1700s and early 1800s.
The distillate in these 12 year bottles predates Billy Walker's time at the distillery, so we'll still be looking at the old character of the spirit. That said, the master blender is known for his heavy cask play and dominant wine finished whiskies, so we might not be seeing a whole lot of that distillate character, anyways. This whisky is supposedly aged in a combination of ex-Oloroso, ex-Pedro Ximenez, and virgin oak casks, and possibly some ex-bourbon casks, although the information isn't officially stated anywhere, as far as we could tell. If color is anything to go by - natural color, in this case - this is going to be a very cask-dominated affair.
GlenAllachie 12 Year
Scotland/Speyside - Single Malt
Price Paid: USD 67 (2022)
Current Locally Available Price: USD 73 (2023)
Age Statement: 12 Years
Strength: 46% ABV
Details: Not chill filtered, no color added
Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 6 times over 9 months; bottles at 80%, 70%, 60% (blind tasting), 60% (blind tasting), 50%, and 40% (blind tasting) fill levels at times of review. Tasted in a Glencairn glass each time, rested 10-15 minutes
Nose: Rich, sweet, and very cask driven - dark cherries covered in chocolate, grape jelly, spiced candy and cinnamon, raspberries and strawberry. Lots of darker notes continue to come forward: molasses, prunes, figs, and some 'Christmas spice.' There's leather and more dark chocolate, cocoa powder and some sweet orange, as well... wow. Very rich and luxurious. Dark roast coffee beans, syrup, and just a mild dark oak finish us off.
Palate: Medium mouthfeel, syrupy with those dark fruits, chocolates, and baking notes. A hint of wood char before we get into fudge, molasses, candied nuts, and sweet raspberries; it's pomegranate seeds, cinnamon, sharp orange citrus, and clove. There is just a hint of a lighter flavor like vanilla or dry oak, but this is mostly in those dark sweet flavors. Pretty oily now, with plum and blackberries, even some of that 'fake' chocolate syrup.
Finish: Medium length with sweet chocolate and a light tobacco; it's semi-sweet overall now, pretty cohesive and syrupy. There's slightly bitter cacao and a hint of sparkly pomegranate kick, but also dark brown sugar, buttery oil, molasses, and some cloyingly sweet maple syrup.
Final Note: Rich and luxurious for a 12 year old whisky - this is good stuff. It's definitely leaning heavily into those casks, so if that's your style, you might like this even more; if you enjoy spirit-driven whiskies, it might not be up your alley. Yummy, but the flavors are very much focused in one direction with the heavy sherry influence, and it's anything but subtle.
Our Average Rating: 7.0 / 10
In the current whisky landscape of increasing prices and variable quality, we've added a value rating to our reviews that relates to the score and the available pricing of each whisky. This roughly equates to a 0-10 scale; no reviews so far have exceeded a score of 10, although it is technically possible for the formula to produce a value rating higher than 10 with a high enough score and low enough price.
Value Rating: 6.81
