Side by side : A GlenAllachie flight

Sometimes you connect with a distillery and sometimes you don't @TheGlenAllachie is one of the latter for me.

Sample swaps, over the last few months, have delivered a number of their drams so let's try them side by side.

GlenAllachie was built in 1967 by Scottish & Newcastle Breweries’ distilling subsidiary Charles Mackinlay & Co. during the boom of the late 60's. In 1985 Mackinlays became part of Invergordon Distillers and the distillery was mothballed. In 1989 part of Campbell Distillers / Pernod Richard, in 2001 part of Chivas Brothers / Pernod Richard.

In 2017 the distillery was sold to The GlenAllachie Distillers Company, operated by former BenRiach MD Billy Walker, ex-Inver House Distillers MD Graham Stevenson and Trisha Savage

The capital ‘A’ was added to the distillery name, in keeping with the changes Billy made to his previous distilleries BenRiach and GlenDronach.

The distillery has a stainless steel semi lauter mash tun with a capacity of  just over 9 tonnes of grist.

6 stainless steel washbacks are used with an average fermentation time of 160 hours.

The distillery has 2 pairs of stills and unusual horizontal shell and tube condensers (Macduff's spirit stills also have horizontal condensers).

Let's see what the whisky is like:

Dram	2008 8yo  [Duncan Taylor] Whisky Galore	1989 28yo  Single Cask #2587	2008 10yo  Single Cask #592	10yo Cask Strength Batch 3	2007 12yo Single Cask #7144	7yo [A.D. Rattray] Warehouse Collection
Characteristics	46% Bourbon	45.4% Hogshead	58.2% Marsala Barrel	58.2% 1st Fill Sherry Cask, Oloroso, PX	60.5% Oloroso Puncheon	66.3% Sherry Cask
Bottler notes	Nose: Fizzy lemon and vibrant gooseberry, with a hint of grist in the background. Palate: Brown sugar begins to take shape on the palate. A good whack of cinnamon, too. Still packed with bright fruit notes. Finish: Pear drops and sherbet lemons.	50th Anniversary Bottling	Bottle Your Own from the distillery	Nose: A big experience of dark chocolate. raisins and heather honey, with layers of sweet spice and orange peel. Taste: Rich notes of dark chocolate, raisins, treacle and heather honey, with sweet spices, orange peel and hints of eucalyptus.	Aberdeen Whisky Shop Exclusive	As usual with a A.D. Rattray Warehouse Collection bottling they don't tell you much about the whisky apart from Distillery name, age and cask type with a short tasting note: Bramble & Gunpowder
My thoughts:
Appearance	After the initial nose I swapped the order of 1 and 2
	Light gold in the glass, swirls cling as a thin line, bead up slowly and fall as slow thick legs.	Bronze in the glass, swirls cling as a thin line, bead up very slowly and fall as slow thick legs. This one seems very dark for a hogshead but I guess that's what 28 years does!	Bronze in the glass, swirls cling as a hairline crack, bead up slowly  as an inverted crown and fall as slow thick legs.	Bronze in the glass, swirls cling as a hairline crack, bead up slowly  as an inverted crown and fall as slow thick legs.	Bronze in the glass, swirls cling as a hairline crack, bead up slowly  as an inverted crown and fall as slow thick legs.	Dark gold in the glass, swirls cling as a thin line, bead up slowly and fall as slow thick legs.
Nose	Porridge with honey, stewed orchard fruit and some citrus zest. A little time and air offers a meaty note	Dunnage warehouse notes - old damp oak, dried fruit and stewed pears. There's some wax or furniture polish here too. A little time and air offers fruit and nut chocolate and a hint of spice.	Huge strawberry Toffo notes - red fruit, toffee, milk chocolate, almonds, brown sugar and leather bound books. A little time and air suggests black treacle.	Honey and toffee, the ABV tickles your nasal hair! Hints of vanilla, orange and dark chocolate. There's some coffee, dried fruit and dry apricots notes after a little time and air.	Similar to the 10yo CS, honey, toffee, milk chocolate and apricots. Strawberry jam, orange marmalade and sherry soaked dried fruit. A little time and air offers nutty fudge, oranges.	Similar notes to the 28yo, the ABV making up for the lack of age - dunnage warehouse notes, a little furniture polish, over ripe pear and apple. A little time and air offers musty books and old leather.
Palate	Thick sweet arrival, honey and porridge dominate but there is some meaty notes - orchard fruit and vanilla. A few more sips offer nutty caramel, citrus zest and a lovely  cinnamon spice note as the liquid disappears.	Smooth thick arrival, oak wood, orchard fruit and a slight soapy note. Orange juice, hazelnuts and milk chocolate follow with a lovely cinnamon spice bite. A little time and air offers a dryness you'd associate with sherry - again it's the age coming through.	Thick spicy arrival, milk chocolate, nutty fudge, brown sugar and some bitter citrus notes. Very drying - like a full bodied red wine with loads of dark fruit - dates, figs, black cherries and prunes. A few more sips offer dried fruit and a lovely peppery spice.	Thick sweet syrupy arrival, dark nutty chocolate, dry sherry notes - dark fruit and peppery spice. There's some salted caramel notes, red fruit - strawberries, raspberries and red currents alongside some dark fruit and sherry dryness.	Thick dry arrival with a huge ginger spice - the ABV makes itself known immediately - hugely warming. Nutty toffee, brown sugar, strawberry jam and orange marmalade. A little time, air and water offer millionaires shortbread, dry sour citrus and a huge ginger spice.	Smooth thick arrival, huge ginger spice notes, instantly drying. There's some orchard fruit: pears and apricots; dried fruit: raisins and figs; and a little orange marmalade. A few more sips offer nutty toffee (burnt?), dark chocolate and coffee notes.
Finish	Honey, citrus and that cinnamon spice note.	Lingering orchard fruit, dry oak and cinnamon spice.	Lingering dry wine berry notes and peppery spice.	Long dry finish with red fruit and a peppery spice.	Long dry finish with red fruit and a gingery spice.	Lingering burnt toffee and dried fruit with a gingery spice.
Overall	If I take the Duncan Taylor as a nod towards the distillery's DNA, porridge, honey, caramel, citrus and spice would be the key notes and to be honest they follow through the other samples. Obviously the sherry and wine maturation or finish add red fruit, dark fruit and dryness. Huge fruit notes on the two 10yo are eclipsed by the 12yo, only 2 extra years but a huge increase in complexity and mouthfeel. So holding my hand up GlenAllachie isn't a distillery I've really connected with, I think I've only bought one of their bottles, the Sauternes finish and I haven't opened it yet... These six drams have really turned my head - I liked the ex-bourbon but the wine and sherry maturation has offered some amazing drams!

Many thanks to @chrislarkfire, @DramofWar, @WesWhiskyDave, @bhoy_whisky for the samples!