Origin: Speyside (Scotland)
Type: Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Strength: 57.8%ABV
Ageing cask: Ex-Sherry Pedro Ximénez
Chillfiltered: No
Added coloring: No
Owner: The GlenAllachie Distillers Co Limited
Price: € 149.00 on Milano Whisky Shop
Official website: theglenallachie.com
On the occasion of the Milano Whisky Festival, undoubtedly the most important whisky event in Italy, patrons Andrea Giannone and Gervasio Dolci Giuseppe are used to releasing special bottlings made especially for the festival.
For 2024, they gote a bit carried away, with no fewer than five bottles (all cask strength) in honour of this year edition: a 2015 Kilchoman (100% Islay) single cask, a 2011 Daftmill, two editions from Berry Bros & Rudd (a single cask from Campbeltown and one from North British) and finally this The GlenAllachie.
Full maturation in an ex-Sherry PX cask, a 2009 distillate bottled in 2015, which by a single month did not become a fifteen year old, with 337 bottles produced.
Tasting Notes
A marmalade of blackberries, blueberries and sour cherries that fill the nostrils with a soft, light sweetness thanks to citrus notes (blood orange, pink grapefruit) that soften the acidity. Acacia honey, dried apricots, sultanas, aged balsamic vinegar, baked apple, ripe plums, spices (cloves, nutmeg), almonds and a hint of leather roughness combine to create a rich, full bouquet. In time, it develops a soft, almost waxy note. Pantagruelic.
On the palate, it reveals itself in all its shrewdness, throwing off the subtleties of the nose to explode in a wild Spanish dance. The initial impact is very demanding, making one fear the one-dimensionality of any other sherry bomb, but after the first few sips, the Spanish mantle begins to open up to reveal nuances of nuts (macadamia, pecans), blackberry jam, fondant, candied orange and ginger, pink grapefruit juice, spices (including cinnamon and a hint of star anise). Impressions of coffee and leather in the background.
Long, spicy finish (with hints of black pepper and ginger), with blackberry jam, blood orange, chocolate, coffee, honey, toasted brown sugar and a slight vegetal note.
A whisky that needs and deserves time, not least because of its recent bottling, which will surely lead to it improving in a few weeks’ time, with all the obligatory sherried notes and more depth than many others.
Vote: 87/100