SPEYSIDE’S GlenAllachie Distillery has released its “oldest and most prestigious” ever dram.
The GlenAllachie 30-year-old Cask Strength Batch 1 single malt is the first in a series small-batch releases from the whisky maker. Only 2,000 bottles will be available worldwide of the malt, which will have a recommended retail price of £475. Batch 1 marries vintage whiskies from nine casks selected by GlenAllachie leader Billy Walker. The industry veteran picked the casks from stocks spanning more than 50,000 casks in 16 warehouses at the distillery. Bottled at a cask strength of 48.9 per cent, and non-chill-filtered, Batch 1 combines vintages from 1989 and 1990 matured in former Pedro Ximenez and Oloroso hogsheads and puncheons, as well as some Chinquapin virgin oak casks.
Mr Walker acquired GlenAllachie with Trisha Savage and Graham Stevenson from Pernod Ricard in 2017. He said: “When I first explored the warehouses here back in 2017, I was blown away by the quality I discovered. I immediately set out earmarking casks and planning a series of incredibly special releases.”
“I always had an ambition to create a memorable 30-year-old expression, presented at natural cask strength, that would truly blow away whisky connoisseurs across the globe. It’s a small-batch single malt that undoubtedly captures everything I’ve learned along the way in my career, and thus is a bottling I’m particularly proud to release.”
