And I was on my road trip to the USA on the rearranged date...
So slightly late, here are my thought on the 4 drams!
First the 12yoInfo: 46% matured in a combination of Oloroso, PX and Virgin Oak, uncoloured, non-chillfiltered, £40
Official notes: Nose: Butterscotch and honey playing the lead, with raisins and mocha in the background. Taste: Honey, marzipan and bananas, with lashings of butterscotch, raisins and a delicate hint of mocha.
My thoughts:
Appearance: Pale gold, swirls leave thick slow legs
Nose: Quite floral initially then hints of honey, tropical fruit and toffee.
Palate: Thick slightly oily honey, quite sweet with a huge spicy kick, banana lingers on the tongue. very nice!
Finish: Spiced honey and a long lingering pineapple note - yummy!
Overall: I didn't know what to expect with this first dram from GlenAllachie but this delivers big time - maybe a little sweet for my palate buy huge tropical and spicy notes make an enjoyable dram.
Next the 18yo
Info: 46% matured in a combination of American Oak and PX, uncoloured, non-chillfiltered, £90
Official notes: Nose: Fresh vanilla, toffee, butterscotch and spices. Taste: Raisins, marzipan, heather and honey, with rich notes of dark cherries, spices and subtle hints of dark chocolate.
Appearance: Pale gold, again swirls leave thick slow legs
Nose: Oak, vanilla and hints of honey. Toffee develops after a little time in the glass.
Palate: Similar to the 12yo with the thick oily honey but the spice is a little more subdued, this time it's cherries and dark chocolate lingering on the tongue.
Finish: Seems shorter than the 12yo - there's more of the spiced honey but it doesn't linger for long.
Overall: A more subdued version of the 12yo.
Info: 48% matured in a combination of American Oak and PX, uncoloured, non-chillfiltered, limited release of 6,000 bottles, £230
Official notes: Nose: Sweet spices, marmalade and sultanas balanced in total harmony. Taste: Lashings of sultanas, pineapples and dark chocolate, followed by layers of Christmas cake, marmalade and sweet spices.
Appearance: Dark gold, gravity defying swirls eventually leading to slow thick legs.
Nose: Dunnage warehouse, old leather jackets, mouldy leaf pile.
Palate: Again thick oily honey (must be a distillery characteristic!) spicy orange marmalade with a slightly bitter dark chocolate and ginger spice. Drying.
Finish: Short, like the 18yo, and not as spicy - some nuts and more of the dark chocolate.
Overall: A different dram form the 12yo & 18yo and a huge increase in price, it is worth it?
Finally the 10yo Cask Strength Batch 1Info: 57.1% matured in a combination of Oloroso, PX, Virgin Oak, uncoloured, non-chillfiltered, limited release of 12,000 bottles, £55
Official notes: Nose: Big notes of heather honey and toffee, with rose hip and spices tip-toeing in. Taste: Honey, vanilla, toffee with a layer of rose hip, marmalade and Caribbean spices..
Appearance: Pale gold, swirls leave thick slow legs
Nose: Similar to the 12yo - honey and toffee, but the increase in ABV starts to singe your nose hair! Hints of vanilla and orange.
Palate: More of the thick oily honey but this time mixed with orange marmalade, very drying, dark chocolate and cherries - reminds me a lot of the 25yo
Finish: Long warming spicy finish - mouth tingling sweet spice.
Overall:Hides it's high ABV well, a different nose from the 25yo but similar on the palate.
Overall I wasn't sure what to expect with these drams, previously most of Glenallachie's output went into blends and Single Malts were hard to find. These new releases share a distillery characteristic of thick oily honey on the palate - with the different age statements adding something different to the nose, lasting tate and finish. Picking a preference I think the 12yo hits the sweet spot.
Thanks to Steve @TheWhiskyWire for organising and GlenAllachie for the samples, sorry I couldn't make the rearranged @TweetTasting but I really enjoyed the drams!
