Glenallachie 35yo: A Remarkable Sherry Monster

We go from one old whisky from a Chivas Brothers distillery (Strathisla, reviewed a couple days ago) to the next, in this case a 35yo Glenallachie, bottled for Speciality Drinks. But other than the fact that they are both old, sherry-matured whiskies from distilleries owned by the same company, there is nothing similar about these two oldies. In fact, this Glenallachie is unlike anything I’ve ever had before.

Glenallachie 35yo (46,9%, Specialty Drinks, 685 bts, ca. 2010)

Nose: Some impressive aromas here with leather, rubber, wet wood, wood smoke, charred pine wood and ripe bananas. This is a type of sherry matured whisky that I haven’t come across before. There’s is barely any (red) fruitiness. Give it some time and other aromas like tobacco, hay and wood shavings appear. The term complex sums this up perfectly.
Taste: There is a fair amount of peat on the palate. It’s almost medicinal. The leather notes translate perfectly. Some tobacco and gunpowder surface after a while. It also has a syrupy quality. Oh, and before I forget: it is very woody, almost like licking wood. Interestingly enough, I do not find it to woody, but I bet that plenty of people would disagree.
Finish: Campfire, ashes, leather and now finally a little bit of red fruit. It lingers for a long, long time.

Rating: 91

This is a remarkable dram to say the least. A very a-typical sherry whisky, but I would love to get my hands on a bottle of this.

Thijs Klaverstijn

Thijs is a spirits writer and accredited liquorist from The Netherlands. He runs the blog Words of Whisky and contributes to a number of Dutch and international publications.