Glenallachie is one of the younger distilleries in Scotland.
It was built in 1967 (partly in 1968) by Mackinlay McPherson Ltd.,
a subsidiary of Scottish & Newcastle Breweries Ltd. It's located
in Banffshire, an area of Speyside especially rich in distilleries.

While I was busy with the A-F profiles in 2004 and 2005
I was still motivated because I was 'building' something.
Now that I've decided that this archive won't be updated
any more after December 2006 that means I will have to
start work on the distillery profiles all over again in 2007.
Bummer... Well, at least now I get to breeze past all the
remainging distillery profiles - that's relatively speaking...

And as far as the 'minor' distilleries like Glenallachie are
concerned I can use some of the space on these pages
to deal with some rother elatively 'minor' issues instead.
Issues like 'benchmarking', for example. Some people like
fellow maniac Luc Timmermans use a complicated system
with which they can 'calculate' the final score of a certain
whisky based on scores given earlier to different aspects
of that malt whisky like complexity, balance, finish, etc.
As far as I'm concerned, that approach is utter bollocks.

Glenallachie 8yo 1991/1999 (43%, Signatory Vintage, C#1340, Distilled 5/3/1991, Bottled 10/3/1999).
Nose: Soft. A little nondescript at first. Hints of oil & sour fruit. Sweet coffee?
Dried apples. Nuttier and maltier after a minute. It grows more powerful over time.
More sweet and spicy notes after fifteen minutes. Notable improvement!
Taste: Very smooth, put powerful as well. Honeyish sweetness. Big burn.
Long, dry finish. Really good; considerably better than the nose, IMHO.
Score: 78 points - four points more than an 11yo 1985/1997 SigVint I tried some time ago.
Is Glenallachie one of those malts that perform better at a young age?

Glenallachie 9yo 1991/2000 (43%, Signatory Vintage, Sherry Butt #1345, 902 Btl.)
Nose: Starts out restrained. Faint notes of fresh early fruits - mostly apples. Citrus?
Not a lot of 'sherried' notes. Quite MOTR, with more malty and nutty notes later on.
Just like the sample from Butt #1340 I tried in July 2002 it grows sweeter with time.
Taste: Soft, sweet and nutty start. Quite flat and nondescript. Dry, woody finish.
Score: 71 points - it's not bad but it could have done with some more character.
I've now sampled three versions. This means I can cross Glenallachie off my 'to do' list.

Glenallachie 11yo 1985/1997 (43%, Signatory, Distilled 10/1985, Bottled 6/1997)
Nose: Very nice! Clearly Speyside; Complex with citrussy overtones at first.
More pepper later. Menthol after that. A lot of development.
Taste: Very smooth and slightly oily. Cold menthol or eucalyptus in the finish
Score: 74 points - interesting, but not very enjoyable. Loses points on the palate.

Glenallachie 12yo 1992/2004 (43%, Signatory Vintage, Cask #453)
Nose: Appears quite young. A little grainy. Not too expressive - slightly farmy. Herbal & clean...
Taste: Touch of bitterness. Fairly flat and unimaginative. Decent enough but loses some points.
Score: 70 points - no obvious flaws but no highlights either. I've grown spoilt over the years...

Glenallachie 13yo 1989/2003 (60.8%, Cadenhead's, Bourbon Hogshead, July 2003, 318 Bottles)
Nose: Restrained in the start. Hint of burnt toffee. Fudge. Mellowing out. Suggestion of some organics.
Taste: Bittersweet oranges like Cointreau. Southern Comfort? Almost liqueurish. Big sweet fruity finish.
Score: 86 points - it manages to improve on an impressive start. Hard to believe it's a bourbon cask!
The nose moves to tangerine with time. I hesitated to add water. When I did I got some warm milk.
After a minute the water really takes effect - a true 'peacock's tail', like Serge would say. Great!

Glenallachie 1981/2004 (55.9%, Scotch Single Malt Circle, Cask #600)
Nose: Ah! A subtle richness. Nicely balanced sherry with a hint of coffee.
The nose sweetens out with water. No other comments for this one this time...
Taste: Potent enough, with just the right amount of tannins for me. Salty.
Flattens out after adding water. No other comments for this one this time...
Score: 82 points - the nose shows lots of development; it grows farmier with time.
 
 
 

Trivia about Glenallachie:  Phew, would you look at the time already?
All this talk about benchmarks and scores has made me forget all about the Glenallachie distillery...
This Banffshire distillery (nearby Aberlour distillery) was bought in 1985 by the Invergordon Distillers Group
and closed two years later in 1987. In 1989 it was bought by Campbell Distillers, owned by Pernod Ricard.
 
When I write this (August 2006) Glenallachie is still owned by Pernod Ricard - through Chivas Brothers.

The Glenallachie distillery is relatively unknown, but with an annual
production capacity of 2,800,000 litres of pure alcohol per year it's
actually among the Top 30 distilleries in Scotland, production-wise.
And now, just seven lines down this distillery profile, I already find
myself struggling with it. When I write this (August 2006) I've just
decided to turn this entire site into an archive and start over anew.

We're PEOPLE, not MACHINES... If we really want to 'analyse' a whisky chemically,
we'd better leave that to machines anyway - they are far better equipped than us.
When PEOPLE sample one or more malts, we are able to form our own opinion based
on our own personal history and preferences - and then give a 'benchmark' score.
Actually, that's what I'm doing with every malt I sample; I search my memory for
malts I liked just as much and try to position the new malt in my lists accordingly.