Tasting note by Best of Wines

Billy Walker's Breakfast

Today's dram was by far the darkest in this year's tasting, and I know some participants that have been looking forward to today for quite a while! But even though everybody was expecting a sherry bomb, this certainly wasn't. Where you would expect a tidal wave of raisins and dates, there were strawberries, cherries and blackberries instead. Though the colour may have deceived many, this 11 year old GlenAllachie aged on ruby port hogshead, a slightly larger (250 litres) and wider cask than the regular barrel. But what does ruby port do with a GlenAllachie, a whisky that already has so much fruit in its whiskies? Luckily we know what Billy Walker can do with Whisky, and he must have a very good idea for how the GlenAllachie would mature on this port hogshead.

COLOUR
Chestnut brown with very clear red hues shimmering through.
NOSE
The nose immediately gives off the port-wine aromas. Very clear hints of blackberry jam, blackcurrant, dark cherries and strawberries immediately pop out among the rich and honeyed cereal-like nose. Without a doubt this has the fingerprint of Speyside with the fruitiness combined with the cereal note, pear-drops and a whiff of honey to bind it all together. Aside from that the spirit has a distinct floral bouquet, some lilies, chamomile and heather. After a drop of water more spices come into play giving it some notes of gingerbread and shortcake drizzled in honey.
PALATE
The mouth is warm from the alcohol and here as well the black and red fruits play the dominant part. The heat of the alcohol along with the gingerbread gives associations of cinnamon ice cream, which I personally really enjoy. A touch of baking spices, cinnamon, cardamon. After a drop of water it also offers some hazelnuts, developing into hazelnut chocolat bars due to their pleasantly bitter touch. Also the oiliness of the dram really contributes to this effect. Furthermore: Honey Loops! Like a bowl of Honey Loops in the morning, grainy and honeyed.
FINISH
The finish is bursting with fruit and keeps going. Sweetness of fruit, the spices and eventually some hints of mocha. After that it just keeps revisiting everything from the dram, back to the honey loops, after that the blackberries and back to the hazelnut chocolate. All the different faces of this whisky are so well balanced with none of them too overwhelming.

CONCLUSION
Though many may have been misled by the colour and were expecting a full sherried whisky, I don't think there were any disappointments with this dram. The influence of the wood is so clear and once again Billy Walker shows amazing cask management with this stunning GlenAllachie. Most people did get Speyside correct, and GlenAllachie is quickly becoming one of the finest examples of Speyside. Since 2017 this distillery has been on the radar for many whisky lovers, and they're really living up to the expectations! The first thing that would strike you with this dram was the honeyed cereal. Though GlenAllachie is not unique in this flavour, the spirit is oilier than you find with most Speysiders. If you also got the floral notes, you would probably have been able to correctly guess GlenAllachie. This floral note is due to the smaller stills GlenAllachie uses. This results in these greasier spirits with floral touches and the lovely honey loops we learned to appreciate so much.