It is so refreshing to taste whiskies where it is not just the standard methods that have been used and wupti, 10-12 years after we have a whisky that tastes a bit like all the others from the same area. It’s put up very square, but I think you get my point.
At a tasting not so long ago, the program was on 8 whiskies from GlenAllachie and it was a fabulos experience. I have previously tasted GlenAllachie 12 YO – PX-Oloroso sherry, finished in Virgin Oak. It was good but not a surprising experience so I may not have looked quite as much in the direction of GlenAllachie and it has been a clear mistake.
For this tasting conducted by Peter Kjรฆr, Lars Gregersen and guesting from Scotland was Juliette Buchan. We tasted some fantastic whiskeys, but the one that caught attention was this one, which have matured in ex-bourbon casks and got an finish of approx. 18 month in an oak that has not been used much before.
The traditions have been to use American Oak for barrels, these are primarily the Oak called “Quercus Alba”, but here they have used an Oak, for their finish, which is not very common. It is called Chinquapin Oak and the Latin name is; “Quercus Muehlenbergii” and which is not a European Oak (Quercus Robur), but a species also from the United States.
Chinquapin Own comes from an area of โโMissouri in the Northern Ozark region. Chinquapine is a subspecies of Quercus Alba, but it gives some other aromas to the whiskey which are more spicy than the slightly sweeter vanilla that come from Quercus Alba.
That’s what makes this GlenAllachie special and a whisky just to my mind and taste. It’s a little different, it’s exciting, it sticks out from the familiar and yet we know it as a good Speysider
It has the sweet vanilla from the first more than 10 years in regular Ex-Bourbon casks, but gets expressions of sweet licorice, orange, a little cardamom and rose hips. It has a wonderful sweet finish where the rose hips taste hangs for a while.
A wonderful whisky from the GlenAllachies Virgin Oak Series which is now on my whisky shelf. Classic and yet different, exciting. Soft and round in the taste.
๐
ต๐
ฐ๐
ฒ๐๐
๐ฟ๐๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ก๐ก๐๐ง๐ฎ: GlenAllachie
๐๐๐ข๐: Chinquapin Oak Finish
๐๐๐ง๐๐๐จ: Virgin Oak Series
๐๐ฎ๐ฅ๐: Single Malt
๐พ๐ค๐ช๐ฃ๐ฉ๐ง๐ฎ: Scotland – Speyside
๐ผ๐๐: 12 Years old
๐ผ๐ก๐ %: 48
๐พ๐๐จ๐ ๐จ: Ex-Bourbon barrels, Finished in Chinquapin for about 18 months
๐พ๐๐๐ก๐ก-๐๐๐ก๐ฉ๐๐ง๐๐: No
๐๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ง๐๐ก ๐๐ค๐ก๐ค๐ช๐ง: Yes
๐ฟ๐๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ก๐ก๐๐ ๐๐ฃ: ?
๐ฝ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ก๐๐ ๐๐ฃ: September 10th 2020
๐๐๐ข๐๐ฉ๐๐: Yes – 6600 bottles
๐๐๐ก๐๐๐จ๐๐: 2020
๐๐ง๐๐๐ ๐ง๐๐ฃ๐๐: about 90,- โฌ (in Denmark)
๐ ผ๐ ๐๐ ฐ๐๐๐ ธ๐ ฝ๐ ถ ๐ ฝ๐ พ๐๐ ด๐
๐: Right at first it smells a bit traditional Speyside, but then comes sweet honey, sweet Finnish licorice, a little whipped white pepper, melon, banana, orange, soft notes of wood. Very comfortable.
๐: Full-bodied, slightly dry, rosehip, sweet licorice, cardamom, slightly prunes, mild coconut, banana, orange, strawberry, nutmeg, pear, mild spices
๐: Medium long, rosehip, cardamom, honey sweetness, soft notes of oak
๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ก๐ก ๐๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐จ ๐ฌ๐๐๐จ๐ ๐ฎ: ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฅ (4/6)
Might actually be a 4.8/6 but I’m not running the od numbers ๐
๐ ผ๐ ๐๐ ฐ๐๐ ธ๐ ฝ๐ ถ ๐๐๐๐๐ ด๐ ผ
๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฅ – ๐๐ญ๐ฉ๐ง๐๐ค๐ง๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ง๐ฎ ๐ฌ๐๐๐จ๐ ๐ฎ – ๐๐๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ฉ๐๐ก๐ฎ ๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ง
๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฅ – ๐ผ ๐๐๐๐ช๐ฉ๐๐๐ช๐ก ๐ฌ๐๐๐จ๐ ๐ฎ – ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ค๐ง ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐จ๐๐๐ก๐
๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฅ – ๐๐ค๐ค๐ – ๐๐๐ฎ๐๐ ๐ข๐ฎ ๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐ฎ๐๐๐ฎ ๐๐ง๐๐ข
๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฅ – ๐๐ค๐ฉ ๐๐๐ – ๐’๐ก๐ก ๐๐ค ๐๐ฉ ๐๐๐๐๐ฃ ๐จ๐ค๐ข๐ ๐๐๐ฎ
๐ฅ๐ฅ – ๐๐ฉ ๐ฌ๐๐จ ๐๐ช๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ฃ๐, ๐๐ช๐ฉ ๐ ๐ข๐๐๐๐ฉ ๐ฃ๐ค๐ฉ ๐๐ค ๐๐ฉ ๐๐๐๐๐ฃ
๐ฅ – ๐๐๐ฉ’๐จ ๐๐ช๐จ๐ฉ ๐จ๐๐ฎ ๐ ๐๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฉ๐ง๐๐๐ ๐๐ฉ