In the autumn of last year, I led the masterclass Glenallachie at the Czech Whisky Festival, which took place untraditionally at this time. I provided 5 tasting notes within it and in the end I also allowed myself to evaluate and organize them. Before that, I finally tasted them more than half a year after the tasting. It was a 10 cl sample, so there was more than enough material.
Undiluted turned out as follows:
1. Glenallachie 11yo Grattamacco Wine Finish (WB182506)
2. Glenallachie 30yo (WB176604)
3. Glenallachie 13yo Rioja Wine Finish (WB182508)
4. Glenallachie 11yo Port Wood Finish (WB152144)
5. Glenallachie 12yo Sauternes Wine Finish (WB182507)
After subsequent dilution with water, the order was slightly changed to:
1. Glenallachie 30yo (WB176604)
2. Glenallachie 11yo Grattamacco Wine Finish (WB182506)
3. Glenallachie 13yo Rioja Wine Finish (WB182508)
4. Glenallachie 12yo Sauternes Wine Finish (WB182507)
5. Glenallachie 11yo Port Wood Finish (WB152144)
It was not my first masterclass Glenallachie and I have tasted more than enough samples from this distillery. With few exceptions, I was not very interested. For this reason, I was very pleasantly surprised by the 11yo Grattamacco Wine Finish, which was simply significantly different from the others. Along with 21yo (WB168872) and 1989 Cask No. 6121 (WB161721) probably the only one from the production of this distillery, for which I could imagine buying the whole bottle.
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Nose
Dandelion flower, vanilla pudding, egg yolks, dried pineapple and alcohol.
After adding water: Linen dough, lemon grass, dried figs, vanilla sugar and butter pastry.
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Taste
Very strong alcohol. Sweet and sour, almost aggressive. Slightly prickly and slightly astringent. Flower honey, grass stem, white grape, nectarine, pineapple and lemon peel.
Creamy, more pleasant and drinkable after adding water. Lemon cream, banana, marzipan, light pepper, menthol candy and unripe plum.
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Finish
Slightly waxy. Pins (plum), yellow mirabelle and vanilla pudding.
After adding water: lemon peel, menthol freshness and beeswax.