Glenallachie distillery

In 2017 GlenAllachie was taken over by Billy Walker, the mastermind behind the success of GlenDronach. With the takeover by Walker, the style of the distillery was clearly geared towards strong sherry barrel whisky. Our current insider tip is the GlenAllachie 12 Years. The heart of the standard range. It is characterized by its intense taste at a fair price.

Glenallachie Whisky

GlenAllachie, which means “Valley of the Rocks”, is a whisky distillery in Scotland’s Speyside. The name is appropriate as the geology surrounding the distillery is littered with Celtic runes and Pictish stones. The well-known Aberlour distillery can also be found near GlenAllachie.

House Style

What does GlenAllachie Single Malt taste like?At GlenAllachie you can look forward to aromas such as malt, raisins and tropical fruits as well as a subtle honey sweetness. A distinctive spice in the finish is typical of the distillery style.

Bottles of GlenAllachie were very rare for a long time. Happily since the takeover by Billy Walker, a permanently available core range has been introduced.

Manufacturing

How is GlenAllachie whisky made?GlenAllachie sources whisky water from Ben Rinnes springs. The malt is purchased externally, using Concerto Barley. Far below the theoretical 4 million liters capacity, the distillery has only produced around 800,000 liters annually from 2018. Of the 8 washbacks, only 6 are currently used at all, none are being fully utilized. The fermentation time at GlenAllachie is around 120 hours. The very long fermentation time ensures increased ester formation which in turn ensures lighter, complex and above all fruity aromas. A total of 4 stills are used.

Since 2017, the whiskies have only matured in first and second fill barrels. A good half of the distillate is matured in First Fill Bourbon barrels. 30% ex-sherry casks are used. The rest of the barrels consist of various liqueur wine barrels such as port wine, Marsala, Barolo, Moscatel, Fino Sherry or Madeira. All whiskies are bottled at a minimum 46% abv.

For a long time, the majority of the production flowed into the blends of Clan Campbell, White Heather and House of Lords. Filling an offerng as a single malt has long been difficult to obtain. Since 2018, when Bill Walker and Partner took over the distillery, a standard range has been published for the first time, which includes four whiskies of different ages. The heart of the GlenAllachie is 12 years old.

In addition to the standard range, special bottlings at cask strength, generally sherry barrels are available. There will also be peated GlenAllachie whisky bottlings from 2021.

History

GlenAllachie is a young distillery. It was not until 1967 that the distillery was opened by Mackinlay McPherson Ltd. founded. The sale to Invergordon Distillers followed in the mid-1980s, and the distillery closed in 1987.

1989 was followed by the takeover by Campbell Distillers who started production again and upgraded the distillery from two to the current four stills. For a long time, Glenallachie single malts were only available from independent bottlers such as Signatory Vinage or Gordon & MacPhail.

Excitingly in 2017 whisky luminary Billy Walker and his partners Trisha Savage and Graham Stevenson founded the GlenAllachie Distillers Company and bought the distillery. With the takeover by Bill Walker, the former Master Distiller from GlenDronach and BenRiach, the focus was placed on the maturation of the whisky in sherry casks.

Glenallachie factsheet

Can I tour Glenallachie?

Yes Glenallachie distillery is tourable. On Trip Advisor the distillery has been rated as excellent by 79 of 80 tours to date. This gives Glenallachie an overall rating of 5.0