GlenAllachie to stage its latest ‘Isolation Tastin’ on May 7
GLENALLACHIE Distillery is marking the release of its second batch of limited edition wood finishes with an online tasting event this Thursday (May 7).
Master distiller Billy Walker will take to Facebook at 7pm on Thursday for GlenAllachie’s latest ‘Isolation Tastin’ to unveil the new trio of Speyside single malts, which includes a 9 year old Rye Wood Finish, an 11 year old Moscatel Wood Finish and an 11 year old Port Wood Finish – each of which is unchillfiltered and bottled at 48% ABV.
The 9 year old Rye Wood Finish is said to offer a rich and spicy twist on the GlenAllachie’s classic flavours of butterscotch, heather honey, raisins and dark chocolate; the GlenAllachie single malt was matured in premium American Oak barrels before being re-racked in Kentucky Rye casks, resulting in “a gorgeous golden malt with bold and punchy notes”.
Aged in American Oak barrels for over nine years before being re-racked in Moscatel Barriques for a second maturation period, the 11 year old Moscatel Wood Finish is described as a fruiter style of whisky with a vivid and aromatic nose typical of the Muscat grape.
The 11 year old Port Wood Finish, meanwhile, is described as a “distinctively ruby red malt resulting from a perfectly-balanced marriage of cask and distillery character”; it was matured for over nine years in American Oak barrels before being re-racked in Ruby Port wood pipes.
Walker said: “From day one, we’ve spent a lot of time exploring the amazing array of casks here in the warehouses and also looking at how our spirit interacts with different types of wood. It’s exciting to see how we can change and enhance the flavour profile of our spirit to create rich and full-bodied whiskies.
“This second batch of wood finishes represents the culmination of all those experiments, and we’re excited about the range of new flavours we’ve created by giving our malt second maturations in Rye, Moscatel and Ruby Port barrels. It’s a delicate process to make sure the different woods complement the GlenAllachie spirit rather than overpower it, but we’re delighted with the results.”
The distillery’s first series of wood finishes was released in August 2019 and featured an 8 year old Koval Rye Quarter Cask Wood Finish, a 10 year old Port Wood Finish, and a 12 year old Pedro Ximenez Sherry Wood Finish.
