Origin: Speyside (Scotland)
Type: Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Strength: 57.1%ABV
Ageing cask: Ex-Sherry PX finish
Chillfiltered: No
Added colouring: No
Owner: Alistair Walker Whisky Company
Average price: €120.00
Official website: www.alistairwalkerwhisky.com
Vote: 87/100
I make no secret of having a soft spot for Glentauchers, which began with a phenomenal 31yo Chorlton Whisky that was later confirmed in another excellent 13yo from Morisco Spirits.
I still haven’t tasted any of the distillery’s original bottlings (but sooner or later…) and I go again with an independent one, Alistair Walker with his colourful aeroplane label, in the second single cask of Glentauchers to join his line (the first came out in 2020, an 11yo in Port).
We are in May 2023, a distillate from 22 March 2012 that after an initial unspecified maturation period was finished in a puncheon ex sherry PX producing 682 fullcask strength bottles, for release number 121.
Tasting notes
That the finishing is in sherry there is no doubt on the nose! Initially, it almost doesn’t seem like whisky so intense is the scent of red fruit jams (strawberries, raspberries, cherries) with vinous veins, but soon buttery shortbread, toffee, praline peanuts, milk chocolate and nutmeg emerge. Evolving, it extracts aged balsamic vinegar and lacquered wood, with the buttery part growing in tandem.
In the mouth, the vinous part gives up quite a bit, although the acidic component remains well present throughout the dram, favouring the emergence of a heart where it’s still the red fruits that lead the assault, with convincing support from prunes, nutmeg, chocolate, coffee, toffee, roasted hazelnuts in honey and a slight background note of aromatic herbs (dill, thyme). Sweet liquorice on the length.
Fairly long finish that retraces the palate almost faithfully, with a hint of herbal notes.
An almost textbook sherried, the PX influence is massive but leaves room for the distillate to shine, with a marriage that works and convinces, although those who don’t like this profile would do well to stay away from it.