
June 8, 2017

Glenallachie OB vs. Glenallachie IB

As I just wrote, because after the lovely old 12 years old from the 1980s, there is an official Glenallachie again! (not taking a few very small batches by Chivas here and there into account).

Glenallachie ‘Distillery Edition’ (40%, OB, 2017)

Yes lasses and lads, there’s a new official Glenallachie! It’s just a little hard to understand why, while the name’s virtually unknown and the capacity quite huge (around 3mio LPA), Pernod-Ricard have decided to go NAS. Colour: gold. Nose: well it’s not un-nice. A little pils beer, sour apples, pears, a touch of vanilla, some barley, some raw malt, a little lemon… Balance has been found, but there aren’t many asperities. Mouth: it’s really good, it’s just simple and kind of elementary. Now I like it better than its sibling Glenlivet Founders Reserve, it’s got a better texture, and I do enjoy these notes of lemon curd and tarte tatin. Or tarte au citron. Finish: medium, nicely malty and lemony. Really, it’s good. Comments: indeed it’s good. A perfect example of an 80-point whisky in my book. So yeah, it’s good, certainly and surely. SGP:441 - 80 points.

Glenallachie 21 yo 1995/2017 (58.7%, Hunter Laing, First Editions, refill hogshead, cask # 13309, 242 bottles)

There had been a 1995 OMC a few years ago, but that one was a little too immature in my opinion (WF 75). So five or six years later… Colour: straw. Nose: it’s still raw, with notes of high-column rum, lemon peel, green apples, and raw artisan kirsch. This baby may well need water… Well I need water. So, with water: sweet beer and oak-matured cider. Of quality. Mouth (neat): indeed, raw malt whisky, with ‘new-make fruits’ everywhere, and this kirschy side again. Lemon liqueur, grass, pink grapefruits, aniseed. With water: improves mucho. Lemon pie, meringue (on that pie), hawthorn tea, green plums… Finish: medium, on apples, lemons, and green gooseberries. Comments: these are never ‘immediate’, and I’d say the taster needs to give them all his attention… Or you’ll never really notice them, let alone remember them. That’s what I tried to do. SGP:541 - 82 points.

Check the index of all Glenallachie I've tasted so far