GlenAllachie
The GlenAllachie Distillery, located in the famous Speyside region, is one of Scotland's younger distilleries, but since its takeover in 2017 by Billy Walker and his team, it has quickly made a name for itself with its high-quality Single Malt Whiskies. The name GlenAllachie comes from Gaelic and means ‘Valley of Stones’, which underlines the distillery's deep connection to the region. In addition to classic bottlings, the distillery has also been producing the peated Meikle Tòir since 2018, which is a special discovery for fans of smoky Speyside Whiskies.
| Information about the Distillery | |
|---|---|
| Scotland, Speyside | |
| -3.227530 57.455930 | |
| Active | |
|
2 x 36,368 l
Normal
|
|
|
2 x 23,911 l
Normal
|
|
|
6 x 60,000 l
|
|
| 10 t | |
| 1967 | |
| 3,200,000 l | |
| http://www.theglenallachie.com |
| Average tasting notes Tasting notes |
i
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|---|---|---|
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Nosing
Sweet:
Fruit:
Sherry:
Spices:
Honey:
Caramel:
Oak:
Chocolate:
Raisin:
Cinnamon:
Nuts:
Herb:
Citrus:
Dried Fruit:
Berries:
Vanilla:
Peat Smoke:
Dark Chocolate:
Herbs:
Cherry:
Orange:
Grape:
Pineapple:
Plum:
Ginger:
Coffee:
Almonds:
Fig:
Banana:
Nutmeg:
Malt:
Hazelnut:
Alcohol:
Heather:
Peach:
Apple:
Floral:
Blackberry:
Date:
Clove:
Pear:
Grapefruit:
Mint:
Tropical Fruit:
Cake:
Lemon:
Bonfire Smoke:
Leather:
Tobacco:
Black Currant:
Pepper:
Walnut:
Strawberry:
Oil:
Chili:
Barley:
Lemon Peel:
Melon:
Red Currant:
Grass:
Coconut:
Green Apple:
Seaweed:
Maritime Notes:
Wheat:
Ham:
Hay:
Lime:
Anis:
Kiwi:
Medicinal Smoke:
Tasting
Sweet:
Sherry:
Fruit:
Spices:
Honey:
Oak:
Chocolate:
Herb:
Caramel:
Nuts:
Raisin:
Citrus:
Dark Chocolate:
Dried Fruit:
Cinnamon:
Berries:
Peat Smoke:
Vanilla:
Cherry:
Ginger:
Malt:
Plum:
Orange:
Fig:
Coffee:
Grape:
Herbs:
Almonds:
Pepper:
Banana:
Pineapple:
Oil:
Grapefruit:
Blackberry:
Hazelnut:
Alcohol:
Date:
Heather:
Peach:
Nutmeg:
Cake:
Clove:
Leather:
Chili:
Tropical Fruit:
Apple:
Mint:
Lemon:
Barley:
Pear:
Strawberry:
Floral:
Walnut:
Tobacco:
Black Currant:
Lemon Peel:
Red Currant:
Green Apple:
Bonfire Smoke:
Lime:
Wheat:
Maritime Notes:
Ham:
Seaweed:
Grapefruit:
Honey:
Spices:
Sweet:
Grass:
Anis:
Salt:
Medicinal Smoke:
Coconut:
Kiwi:
Rye:
Finish
Sweet:
Sherry:
Oak:
Spices:
Fruit:
Herb:
Nuts:
Dark Chocolate:
Chocolate:
Peat Smoke:
Malt:
Caramel:
Citrus:
Cinnamon:
Honey:
Dried Fruit:
Coffee:
Pepper:
Raisin:
Herbs:
Orange:
Berries:
Alcohol:
Ginger:
Chili:
Oil:
Grape:
Heather:
Vanilla:
Cherry:
Nutmeg:
Leather:
Fig:
Tobacco:
Plum:
Cake:
Pineapple:
Wheat:
Walnut:
Hazelnut:
Almonds:
Grapefruit:
Banana:
Mint:
Blackberry:
Anis:
Tropical Fruit:
Maritime Notes:
Apple:
Lemon:
Clove:
Salt:
Floral:
Bonfire Smoke:
Black Currant:
Date:
Peach:
Seaweed:
Barley:
Lemon Peel:
Lime:
Medicinal Smoke:
Pear:
Ham:
Red Currant:
Rye:
Strawberry:
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The Whisky
Despite Glenallachie's high production capacity, sourcing official bottlings of Single Malt from the distillery is extremely difficult. This is on account of the fact that Glenallachie was built with the intention of mass-producing single malt for blending. The first true official bottling with 12 years of age did not appear until the 1990s. Independent bottlings are not much easier to come by, although there have been a smattering across the years. Gordon & MacPhail have released a 13-year old, while Douglas Laing have performed bottlings of older casks, including a 22 year old and a 38 year old. The vast majority of spirit produced at Glenallachie's site is used in the Chivas Brothers Clan Campbell Blend, as well as in the Chivas Regal and House of Lords.
The Production
Glenallachie boasts an impressive production capacity, standing at 3.2 million liters. As mentioned above, the distillery boasts such a high production capacity due to the fact that the majority of its production is used for blending. The distillery takes advantage of its location by drawing the water used in production from the nearby springs of Ben Rinnes. Another notable facet of Glenallachie's production the use of horizontal tube condensers, as opposed to the standard vertical ones which are used by most distilleries.
The Pot Stills
Glenallachie has two wash stills, each with a capacity of 36'300 liters, and two spirit stills, which both have a 23'900 liter capacity. Both the spirit and wash stills have a large, round shape, with wide spherical lids and gently narrowing necks.
Maltings
Glenallachie sources it's maltings from a Chivas-owned industrial source located in Banffshire, close to the distillery's Speyside location in Aberlour. The maltings used in production are unpeated.
Warehouse
The distillery site boasts fourteen warehouses, twelve of which are racked, with the last two being palettized. The vast majority of the casks used are ex-Bourbon, imported from America, although a few Olorosso casks are also used.
History
Being founded in 1967, Glenallachie is one of the younger distilleries in Scotland. Mackinlay McPherson Limited, a subsidiary of Scottish & Newcastle Breweries Limited, constructed the distillery between 1967 and 1968. After launching production in 1968, the distillery was bought by the Invergordon Distilleries group in 1985. A mere two years after acquiring the site, Invergordon closed the site. Another two years passed, and in 1989 the distillery was bought by Campbell Distillers, who were owned by the industry giant Pernod Ricard. Pernod added Glenallachie to the "Chivas Regal" section of their portfolio. Before the site re-opened, the new owners invested in a reconstruction and a expansion at the site, increasing the number of stills from two to four, bringing the production capacity up to it's modern-day level.
The distillery has continued to flourish under Ricard's stewardship, becoming one of the highest-producing distilleries in the region. 2005 saw the release of a Cask Strength Edition from 1989. Pernod branded the distillery as the home of Clan Campbell Whisky, a branding which still stands today. Although there has been an increase in the amount of Single Malts being released, Glenallachie very much remains an industrial production orientated distillery.
Visitor's Centre
There is no visitor's centre at the site and it isn't possible to take private tours.
Distillery Address:
The GlenAllachie Distillers Company Limited
The GlenAllachie Distillery
Aberlour
Banffshire
AB38 9LR
User Notes about the Distillery
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