Scotch Whisky Review #393 & 394: GlenAllachie Duo (Signatory Vintage 12 Year & Hart Brothers 19 Year)
Distillery: GlenAllachie.
Region: Speyside.
/u/unbreakablesausage and I had been talking about how little GlenAllachie both of us had tried though we each had a few samples in the pipeline. Figuring there’s no time like the present, we dove into our sample piles to see what GlenAllachie is all about.
Scotch Whisky Review #393: Signatory Vintage GlenAllachie 12 Year First Fill Sherry Cask (2008)
Age: 12 Year. Distilled on May 6th, 2008. Bottled on February 16th, 2021.
ABV: 63.4%. Cask Strength.
Price: Sample courtesy of /u/I_SAID_NO_GOLDFISH.
Color: 1.9, Brown Sherry. Natural Color.
Nose: The nose suggests I’m in for quite a ride. It’s pure rubbing alcohol. It’s hot, it’s astringent, it’s bitter. Some dried fruits in the form of raisins, prunes, and dates come through every so often but really it’s unpleasant to smell.
Palate: The nose suggested it and the palate delivers. It’s bitter and astringent. There’s a ton of varnish and way too much oak with only the tiniest trace of sherry to boot. It’s incredibly hot and water doesn’t seem to cool it down or balance out the oak note. The oak is so strong that it tastes like I’m chewing on a stick.
Finish: Medium in length. It’s astringent and hot, unsurprisingly. With water, it seems to coat the tongue and stick to it as if it were sawdust.
Rating: 55.
Scotch Whisky Review #394: Hart Brothers GlenAllachie 19 Year (1995)
Age: 19 Year. Distilled in November of 1995. Bottled in February of 2015.
ABV: 56.7%.
Price: Sample courtesy of /u/_asipper.
Color: 1.3, Russet/Muscat.
Nose: The nose is much a lot more promising than the other one. Caramel popcorn, candied nuts, and praline are the notes that come to mind.
Palate: It is hot. Insanely hot and screams for water. Notes of caramel, malt, and slightly burnt popcorn come through the heat though. As I added water, it became less hot but more astringent. The more water I added, the more pronounced this seemed to be. The flavor profile converged to something that tasted like a generic, over-oaked bourbon. Disappointing.
Finish: Much longer than it has any business being. It does the same thing as the palate. It’s hot at first and then turns to being astringent as water got added. The whole time, it’s the flavor of over oaked whisky though.
Rating: 59.
Conclusion: Whelp, it seems to be that the conclusion here is pretty easy. I don’t seem to get along with GlenAllachie. I wasn’t impressed by their 15 year official bottling and these independent bottlings only detract from my impression of them. Both of these pours went straight down the drain as soon as I had had enough to write notes on them. I seem to have lost the game of Russian Roulette that is independent bottlings, but I don’t think I’ll be looking to play again if GlenAllachie is involved. Shame.
Scotch Whisky Review #393 & 394, Speyside Review #142 & 143, Whisky Network Review #547 & 548
Scoring Legend:
- 96-100: The perfect dram, nectar of the gods.
- 90-95: Near perfect, there is something truly special about this whisky.
- 85-89: Amazing, will always try to keep a bottle of this in my collection (if feasible).
- 80-84: Very Good, maybe only one minor nitpick about the whisky keeping it here.
- 75-79: Good, quite enjoyable to drink.
- 70-74: Solid, wouldn’t go out of my way to get it.
- 60-69: Meh, still drinkable.
- Below 59: If you have a bottle of this, start cooking with it instead.
Scotch & Sheen 
