GlenAllachie 10-Year Port Wood Finish
48% ABV - Speyside, Scotland
Nose: Lots of ripe, red fruits, fruit punch, citrus, and cooked fruits. There is a slight wine and wood amalgamation wafting about. The stretch notes I wrote down were strawberries and jam.
Taste: Upfront come dried fruits (the kind that are still really juicy) and red-fleshed orange – Cara Cara navels. Dark fruits, cranberry, plums, sultana raisins, and cinnamon/spices are close in tow.
Finish: Ending with fruits and spices, with some background notes of cinnamon, pepper, caramel, and rose water.
I was thoroughly impressed with this GlenAllachie. I had tried the 10-Year Cask Strength previously (Batches 1 & 3), and though they were very good, I was blown away by this Port Wood Finish! I know that I am an easy mark for any whisky with influence from ex-wine barrels – but I am even more so a sucker for ex-Port.
This bottle of GlenAllachie 10-Year Port Wood Finish was gifted to me by my groomsmen! They did not let the current state of social matters (distancing and all that) get in the way of a party… a Zoom party, of course. I had a package delivered to me on the day of the virtual hangout that contained this delicious Scotch whisky.
These clever friends of mine actually had me do a blind side-by-side of the GlenAllachie with a watered down sample of, unbeknownst to me, maple syrup – ha! I think that I embarrassingly didn’t peg it as maple syrup, passing it off as some strange low ABV liqueur instead, but I did catch on to the ex-wine finish this one has. Hopefully I passed the test – I haven’t received my marks yet (but this whisky has!)
Tasting Notes (Official): Nose: Waves of heather honey and sweet spice, laced with rose hip and dark chocolate. Taste: A flood of heather honey, butterscotch and treacle, with damson, rose hip and dark chocolate. [DoW: I can imagine where that dark chocolate note is, but it is notably absent from my notes!]
Tasted 23 June 2020. (Posted 25 June 2020.)
