GlenAllachie is a distillery that rips through the majority of Whiskyfacile like the ESM does with the government. Some of us like its cheeky style that is always ready to come at you with the bill, others can’t stand the sour-ish mood. To try and get everyone on the same page, let’s give the exploratory assignment to Glenallachie 15 yo, a unanimously acclaimed OB that after ageing in bourbon has been refined in puncheon and hogshead ex-Oloroso and PX. Let’s see if this can find the long-sought balance between fans and detractors and form a government.
N: starts out citrusy, with notes of macerated orange. Then a deep, dark note emerges: manure, meat stock, leather and a touch of sulphurous sherry. Interesting, scholars would say. Burnt sultanas, black cherry chocolate. And then apple, rhubarb and red grapes, for a taut and vibrant fruity side. Chewing gum, too. Vinous without exaggeration and with a touch of plasticine. A nose to be palpated.
P: again sweet, acidic red fruits (currant/amber), raspberry and a flood of dried figs. The fruit emerges in all its sweetness. Spices then emerge: chilli, curry and a delicious taste of peppery bread. More burnt sultanas. The fruity palate becomes softer and creamier, but there is a grassy, bitterish hint. Leaves and wood, lots of nuts.
F: cocoa, pepper, chestnuts and a sherry-like vinosity always on the acid side. Tobacco to close.
Do you know those wooden constructions where you fit a lot of angular pieces together to make a sphere? Here, in this whisky there are many different suggestions and also some off notes, but the result is strangely balanced. The sweet sherry tames the angular notes of the distillate, the chocolatey malt balances the acidity. A constructed whisky, but constructed well, that doesn’t show off but gives satisfaction: 85/100.
Recommended soundtrack: The Acid – Basic instinct
