Glenallachie

1989

Glenallachie

1971

Glenallachie

1995, bourbon hogshead

Colour: Straw
The nose is pretty cool, but deadly neutral on a monotonous mixture of malt and discreet fruit. Alcohol is clearly present.
In the mouth it is a bit more expressive without becoming complex or subtle. Alcohol is always present, and fruity notes are a little more present. The whole remains fairly neutral.
The finish is long, cool and relatively dry.

Glenallachie

Anniversary Selection 35 years

Color: Brown
A very rich nose made from a mixture of sherry and nice coffee notes. Very nice complexity while maintaining a remarkable balance. The nose is a rare quality.
The palate is fresher and more diverse than the nose. The original notes of sherry add a nice fresh acidity that evolves constantly going from notes marked by coffee at others showing a nice acid freshness (balsamic vinegar). Some very subtle oak notes.
A beautiful mouth.

Beautiful finish. Long, cool. Nice notes of sherry, nice complexity, a delicate wood notes embellish the final complex and extremely pleasant.

Nose: Nuts, coffee, rancio, red fruits, strawberry, cake, dust, a little lemon. The flavors are well married.

Taste: Powerful with a well-integrated alcohol and a nice balance. The palate is more fruity than the nose even if we find the same flavors in the background.

Final: Rancio, coffee, red fruit. Long, soft with exotic fruits in the background. Strongly marked by the dark chocolate after aeration.

A very nice sherry monster with no defects and some fruits. Everything I love

A fantastic nose, deep and complex! There is nuts, chocolate, praline, a resiny side, candied orange, candied passion fruits?, honey and spices.
On mouth: explosion of smoke and something that I identified as mustard grains, the overall combined with these splendid sherry aromas.
The finale is long and really good, alcohol is perfectly integrated.
A great Speyside sherry matured!

Color: Amber
Nose: great , very sherry as well, very elegant and balanced chocolate, orange and prune.
Then we have a good dose of spice and hints of very ripe banana.
A light coating at the bottom but not dominant, and hints of marzipan.
Palate: Well balanced, but not beautiful woody notes brought by sherry on bananas, spices, chocolate, bitter orange and blackberry jam.
With aeration, the fruits become almost exotic goes well with the spices and chocolate.
Long finish on black fruits and nuts.
Sherry Monster full of freshness and balance, nice selection

Color: Amber
Nose: Rich, mixing salty marine character and notes from warmer sherry like balsamic vinegar, old leather, almond paste, nuts, coffee liqueur. Light wood brings a certain maturity to the whole. The second tasting adds to it the freshness of eucalyptus.
Palate: Powerful, relatively oily texture, it is salty and marked by sherry which brings the acidity of the balsamic vinegar, the smell of mandarin and the greed of the dried fruit, although they are behind. The finish is marked by an spicy explosion (pepper, cloves).
Finish: Long, salty and spicy, with cloves getting married in sherry.

Conclusion: An excellent whisky, balanced, powerful and complex. I like.

Nose: Fruity (red berries), some nuts, dried fruits as well. Then appears some notes of stale smoke after a little aeration. Greedy nose.
Palate: quite complex, marked by the wood (a whisky of a certain age in my opinion). Some ashy notes.
Finish: rather long with also some ashy notes.

appearance: Medium to dark amber. Wide leg flowing slowly to very slowly
nose: moderate to strong intensity, well-integrated alcohol after several minutes of breathing, old wine cellar, rancio, tobacco, leather, figs, dates, coffee, varnish, the intensity decreases after 30 minutes of breathing and the flavors become more melted, a slightly woody dryness is added
Taste: moderate to strong intensity, aromas of sherry can be found in the mouth and accompanied (balanced) by a good amount of woody dryness. I like the duality of sherry sweetness and bitterness of the old wood.
finish: medium to long
With water: The nose becomes again more intense for a few minutes, the mouth is more wooded (unbalanced for me), no water needed
conclusion:
Very sherried whisky with controled oak influence. Too bad the whisky loses intensity while breathing. Excellent whisky anyway.

Colour: Polished mahogany. Opalescent. Probably an unchillfiltered Cask Strength with a moderate ABV.

Nose: Very precious. Old fruits. Greengages preserved for a long time in brandy. Very ripe bananas (when they start being stained). Caramel roasted pineapple. Dried figs. High end over aged Guyana rum, including a dash of hydrocarbon brought by the cask. Demerara sugar. The fruity and sugary softness are perfectly balanced by the vividness brought by the alcohol (48%?) and the spiciness extracted from the cask. Old and appetizing it is. The cask did the job and did it well. Let’s hope that it didn’t overdid it as far as the mouth is concerned...

Mouth: Nope, it didn’t. The attack is on the same line than the nose, soft and fruity like an old Brandy. The mouth gets bolder then, developing on coffee liqueur (Kahlua?) and roasted cocoa beans. More wood and spices now (cinnamon ganache?), along with a slight astringency and a hint of burnt wood ala Glendronach. Nothing disturbing, but this nice Sherry cask was bottled just in time! The alcohol is perfectly balanced.

Finish: Tasty, dominated by these old cask aromas and this slight astringency. I would have liked it to last a bit longer...

Comment: Some old and quite classy material, for sure, that would have had a hard time spending some extra time in the cask. Those who like their old Speysiders not overwhelmed by the Sherry and sultanas should be delighted.

Nose: Delicious, sweet and rich, evoking a whisky matured / finish in PX sherry cask. Amount of fruit bursting with sugar: red and black figs, exotic overripe (almost roasted), dried fruits, Frangelico hazelnut liqueur, chocolate, also with a small side "old grain whisky" (nougat, coconut, varnish).

Mouth: fluid, we find the intense fruity bouquet, juicy and tangy: mandarin, lemon, kumquat, passion, pineapple. Thinly woody and spicy, with a very nice balance, may also be a hint of peat.

A superb whisky perfectly matured, rich, delicious, refined, both deep and light, liquid, it lacks just "a few watts" (a bit low percentage of alcohol) and a final a little longer (too short)

Nose: sweet and sour sherry, prunes liqueur, quince paste and a sensation of creamy, as chocolate milk. I really appreciate this profile, close to the old Glenfarclas or Mortlach. The sensation of alcohol is not too strong (reduced or even old cask?), Let us see what the mouth has to tell us.
Palate: The sour side rather than the soft springs out, woody, grassy, metallic, meat and dried beef or so. The creamy, cocoa-flavored are then followed by the nuts and a vinous character of "sherry monsters".
The finish is persistent, it is very good.

Color: Mahogany.
Nose: superb sherry fruity. Stewed fruit and, very mature fruit. Small lack of power anyway. Tarte tatin. Coffee cream. Acacia honey. Beeswax. Key freshness anise, fennel just sketched.
Taste: Sweet, fruity, creamy. Greedy cappuccino notes.
Finale: Like the nose, very complex. At first, a little exotic fruit hints, then comes a strong note of coffee and mocha. Also chicory, which is a prelude to a fine bitterness that gives way to a return of the most significant fruit. A final length while then.

Comments: An exceptional nose but it takes time it is revealed! A Single Malt fly high! I buy (or rather I split)!

Color: Bronze
Nose: Oak times two, caramel, vanilla, fresh applepie with cinnamon.
Taste: Liquorice, caramel, more wood slightly charred, pepper and again cinnamon.
Ending: Long and firery, caramel, liquorice, wallnuts and a lot of wood

Amber
Very very sherry nose. We can say that it releases aroma that! But for the moment difficult to put a name on it. It will take time to unfold.
Ha, it starts. It reminds me of mashed overripe fruit and alcohol. No, a soup of sweet strawberries in red wine (with too much wine, strawberries really ripe to the limit of the slurry which lose their color and are becoming lilac / light purple ...). The scent of ripe plums, too.
Smells of sweet coffee and a basket of dried fruit (dates, grapes, apricots ...). Aeration makes the early strawberries clearly less mature and more "consumable". It also becomes more honeyed with a touch of coffee beans to the ice. No coffee to grind, but those chocolate / coffee are provided on the whipped cream.
Fresh, smooth, spicy, oaky and hoary (yes a little bit ..). It is a continuation of the fruity nose. But it's more an apricot this time it seems. Strange, I have the feeling of being in a limestone quarry where rock dust invades the mouth that gives one side a little rapper .... With water it becomes terribly bitter and bitterness is really disturbing ... It's not good because it is really too pronounced, it seems to me the Gentian fruity in the mouth!
Moderately long finish and sparkling like candy Frizzy Pazzy. I have something else ... A flavor that I also found in 53% Benriach 1976/2006 LMDW Cask # 3557 btle 25/222. I like the flavor but IMPOSSIBLE to put a name on it! And unfortunately, with the addition of water, it continues on its too bitter side. Pfff I have nothiing else in my mouth now!

Comment: The nose is really remarkable. Very strong, very rich and expressive. Mouth also very nice. And just for the final (too bad I still can not find the name of that aroma!).
Despite this, the fact of having add water reveals a really horrible bitterness. What penalized it unfortunately . I would not have added water, I'd could have gone to the 90 ~ 91. But I can not act as if nothing had happened because it really bothered me.

NOSE: at the color you could imagine .... The nose is confirmed, it is sherry ... and it looks good! It is balanced and refined between notes of the original wine and rather ripe fruit but not necessarily dry (one glimpses the exotic?). Some alerts despite suffering an hour of aeration, but it's still reasonable. A little spicy. Varnish, fungus / mold.

Mouth: a nice smoke and the evolution on very ripe fruit (fig, date on matured). A little exotic thereafter. Hyper oily texture (it looks like the cough syrup!). A little oaky, but reasonable. Superb!

Finish: medium long but persistent due to the type of aroma ....

A very nice balance at all levels. You must love sherry, and in this case the reward is there. An interesting complexity without being extraordinary, a dram anyway really enjoyable. I really enjoyed it.

Amber color.
Sweet nose, rich. Some notes of fresh fruit mixed with hints of sherry. A nice woody feeling, a little chocolate. The sherry is quite light and does not overwrite the nose.
The palate is light, soft. Although marked by sherry, wood (very slight astringency) and always a bit of cocoa.
Final: medium, less intense on a woody feeling without astringency.
well made whisky, well balanced!

Nose: Superb sherry, very elegant, juicy fruits, jam, tropical fruits. Honey, slightly waxy. Really nice. Becomes darker with time, less elegant too.
The mouth is a bit disapointing compare to the nose. Immediately astringent, bitter orange, more dark sherry.

The first nose is discreet, with floral notes, almost hot spices (sulfur, alcohol). Thereafter, the nose becomes more interesting. Beginning with mineral notes and wood, it looks like a young Calvados. There is apple, lemon, chili. The whole is wrapped in the scent of hazelnuts and farm, where we also feel a little sherry. Everything is very powerful, and properly balanced. Aeration allows spices (mustard), making it even more complex. A high level.

Mouth, syrupy and delicious, is marked by a very smoky start, before a wave of caramel, nougat and coffee. A little taste of sherry. Aeration shows notes of green apple in attack, and the appearance of refined peat thereafter. This makes the mouth a little messy, especially since it is difficult to specify, even if that mix of peat and greedy side is very nice. The water gives it a farmy taste.

The final is on peat smoke, with the woody sherry pattern. Long, it is powerful, almost pungent. It also reveals traces of milk chocolate and lemon. Aeration makes it a bit monolithic.

In conclusion, an unconventional whisky. In my opinion, it's a beautiful baby with no flaws, except maybe that mouth unclear.

Colour: Teak, caramel.
Nose: sherry nose is first on the morello cherry, cherry brandy. Then rancio, almond paste, pistachio, almond powder. Notes of cold Arabica coffee. Slightly pastry on the pie crust, tiny hints of praline. With time harmony and background by acquiring a greasy texture, buttery. Currants.
The addition does not change the nose, but the harmonises it..
Taste: relatively sharp. There are some aromas perceived on the nose, but with a different balance, less attractive, more acidic, sour, see safe. Spices, juniper.
Like the nose, the addition of water harmonizes the mouth. However, we feel very quickly the start point of over-dilution of the attack.
Finale: In the wake of the mouth, good length, it starts on a clear ash astringent note that slowly mutates into smoke, but always with the sour side lying around on the tongue.
Water weakens slightly the final.

Comment: A nice sherry, with a pleasant nose, seductive, but one less successful mouth. A nice finish, however. Water can make it easy to stay drinkable provided very parsimonious because the drowning happens quickly.

Nose: focused on the sherry, candied orange, rum and raisins. A real cake, then polish and coffee in the end may be a bit of vanilla.
Mouth: we find the nose with sherry and rum and a hint of tea. The oak is clear and alcohol becomes too present.
Finish: Medium.

Color : Dark amber

Nose : We start with walnut wine, fresh tropical fruits, peach and a bit of wood varnish. Dates and walnut halves. There is a nice minty freshness. We then go to nice whiffs of raspberry vinegar and red fruits.
Finally, wet hay, wood and vanilla. Alcohol very well integrated.

Mouth : We start on a tasty acidity, like raspberry vinegar. It very sour, almost too much. At first, it lacks complexity, ie balance between the winey side and some bitterness. After a few minutes, we tend toward a better balance. A small touche of sulfer, wich is not too bad.
The alcohol stings a bit. After a while, it becomes very sweet and sugary (peach sirup or maple syrup).

Finale : Medium, on the vinegar. It stings the tongue.

Conclusion : A pretty well realised whisky. The sour side of the mouth holds it down a bit, but it's overall pretty good.

Color: Orange with mahogany glints

Nose: Warm, spicy. Caramel, coffee, chocolate. A slight peat mixed with good hints of sherry. Plum and spice, cloves or nutmeg style.

Taste: sherryish in the foreground with the a little smoke behind. Spices. Little bitterness of coffee, light caramel and sugar sweetness of milk chocolate. Fruity with plum again. Nice texure but oddly weak in alcohol ... Woody and also a little mint ...

Finish: Quite long, slightly peppery, hot, dusty bitterness and also ...

Coppery amber color.
Nose very marked by sherry with fresh caramel sweetness that go with it. Tarte Tatin
The palate is oily, creamy, chocolaty (Van Houten) and salted butter caramel.
The finish is short with a little bitterness. Then return to tarte tatin.

Colour: Rather dark, rosewood brown, mahogany, beautiful red and greenish glints. Sherry cask?
Nose: Sweet and full, lots of dried fruits, raisins, figs, dates, the whole thing. Sherry or port – (no, I think sherry) - finish. Very complex, the age is hard to guess, could be higher indeed.
Taste: The alcohol has a strong entrance (46%?). Again the dried fruits and sugar, combining very well with delicate liquorice and salmiak notes. Smoke or peat are nowhere to find. Pleasant nevertheless.
Finish: Far too short, getting quickly very watery on the palate. Leaving a weak picture and disturbes the very nice complex impression from the nose and the entrance. Makes revise my guess above about a higher age.
Conclusion: A Speysider which was perhaps forgotten in his sherry cask (Aberlour?), I’d preferred more tastes of the original cask, the finish is disappointing, I don’t think, it is a original bottling. The price might be high but I’d regret to pay more than 35 Euro for this bottle. I see again, guessworks might be right or totally wrong but are the most fun...

N: sherry (too?) present there are all the flavors of sherry, whisky has difficulty expressing itself but there are nice hints of pear, tobacco.
B: violence is a bit of a disappointment, there is an explosion of flavors and everything collapses, bizarre, unbalanced
F: very long retro olfaction on pineapple, mango and tobacco, many astringency.

Glenallachie

1973

Color: Gold
A very nice fruity nose full of freshness. Notes of honey and flowers give it a nice complexity. The nose is a delight of softness and balance.
The first impression on the palate is rather disappointing after a nose of that quality. All the sweetness is gone to make way for a mix of acidity and bitterness. The fruits have been replaced by slightly metallic flavors. We are far from this beautiful complexity announced by the nose. The mouth is nevertheless pleasant, but appears to have some unfortunate flaws.
The finish is of medium length, marked primarily by acid notes (not unpleasant) from the mouth.
Too bad the mouth and final are not of the same vein as the nose.

Glenallachie

Distillery Summer 1999-2009

Comment by

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Johannes Sauer

Colour: Pale gold, vinho verde, beautiful greenish glimmers (natural).
Nose: White chocolate, overripe fruit like pears and apples, already with brown spots. Vanilla. Rotten pineapples. In the back there lingers a strange note which might be indeed barley or malt, but reminds me on wet newspaper and shower gel. Strange but somehow indeed interesting.
Taste: Again sweet and ripe fruits combine with a nifty barley delivery, also dried figs and soft spices show up. The whole palate is getting more and more peppery towards the spicy and well peppered end.
Finish: Great, great fun! The finish surprises with an unexpected and very entertaining spice shop. The sweet and dry fruitiness mingles most beautifully with piquant exotic spices like black pepper, cinnamon and caribbean piments.
Conc.: A strange but very interesting dram. If it wasn’t for this great finish I’d given 15 points for that strange nose and the weak first impression on the palate. But this are well deserved 3 points more. This finish makes this whisky a great companion to a cuban cigar, not to mention the reasonable price.

Tasting date: 02/09/2010
Price in Germany: 25,00 Euro

Glenallachie

Adelphi 36 years