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Hi, this is one of our (almost) daily tastings. Santé! |
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October 14, 2014 |
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Two 18 years old Allt-A-Bhainne
plus bonus |
I’m really having a fondness for underdogs such as Allt-A-Bhainne, not only because no two bottlers are writing the name in the same way. Check the hyphens… |
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Allt A Bhainne 18 yo 1992/2010 (46%, Milroy's of Soho, cask #2271000025, 350 bottles)  I haven’t seen anything by Milroy’s since quite some years. This is an older bottle. Yup, no typo in the cask number. Colour: straw. Nose: paraffin, sunflower oil, waxed paper, fresh butter, barley, mashed potatoes, white bread, marshmallows. I wouldn’t say the ‘cask with a long number’ has been extraordinarily active. Mouth: barley, yeast and oak. I know, that’s the whole point, but a little more ‘interplay’ would have been welcome. I do enjoy the notes of orange sweets that come out after one minute, though. Finish: medium length. Sweets coated with sawdust. Comments: its not very often that I come across such weakish single malts (anymore – there were more twelve years ago – and stellar ones as well). Enough said. An opinion anyway. SGP:341 - 68 points. |
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Allt-A-Bhainne 18 yo 1995/2014 (48%, Distiller's Art, 301 bottles)  A new series by Langside Distillers, that is to say now Hunter Laing if I’m not mistaken. Colour: pale gold. Nose: more. More hay, more tobacco, more earth, more menthol… And in the background, the same notes of mashed potatoes, barley, butter and oil. More vanilla too, a touch of sweet and rich Belgian beer. The cask was more active, obviously. Mouth: proof that a better cask makes better whisky. The distillate isn’t any more stellar (rather yeasty/mashy) but in this case, the additional layer of sweet oak (vanilla and even banana) worked well, even if it feels a little too much, with a varnishy side. Finish: medium length. Oak and sweets and apple compote. Comments: I don’t think this is great, but it’s certainly better. As always, IMHO. SGP:451 - 78 points. |
No whisky above 79 today, that’s a little embarrassing, I agree. Under WF’s unwritten and even unspoken rules, another try is de rigueur… |
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Allt-A-Bhainne 22 yo 1991/2013 (54%, Signatory Vintage, hogshead, casks #90112+90115, 444 bottles)  I think Signatory have always been good at selecting better versions of lesser single malts. Anybody can bottle a great Caol Ila, but a great Allt-A-Bhainne? Also, vatting two or three casks together may improve ‘mundane ones’ mucho, let’s check this one… Colour: pale gold. Nose: maybe that’s the higher strength, but this one’s instantly fuller, more coherent, more mature. The barley notes became sweeter and rounder, the vanilla got custardier, the yeasty/feinty/mashy notes have vanished and some fruits are coming out. Apricots, for example. With water: the mashed potatoes are back. Rather sweet potatoes. Plantains. Mouth (neat): another galaxy? Let’s not exaggerate, another planet. It’s full of sweets, jellybeans, marshmallows, crystallised lemon, peach syrup… And the mouth feel is almost perfect. Simple, but perfect. Hurray! With water: good sweet creamy fruity thing. All-fruit juice from a tin can. Finish: medium length, clean, fruity, easy, no-head-scratching malt whisky. Comments: simply pretty ‘good’. And you need an Allt-A-Bhainne in your bar, don’t you! SGP:641 - 82 points. |
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