Glenallachie Batch 1 That Boutique-y Whisky Company

We're sitting down with a whisky from Glenallachie distillery bottled as part of the inventive That Boutique-y Whisky Company range. You'll have seen these bottlings around town as they are visually distinctive coming in at 50cl and an interesting style of bottle label.

I'm a sucker for a visually stimulating label; hell even a Jura with an eye-catching design might open my wallet given the right appearance. Yet I know some enthusiasts really dislike the label style of this range. Arguably we should appreciate their efforts for actually trying to be different...

This initial batch of Glenallachie has long since sold out and was a release of just 219 bottles. That Boutique-y Whisky Company have recently introduced an age statement and this is trend we're seeing from some distilleries now as well. It seems we've come full circle with age not being important to now informing the customer of what they're purchasing. I'm not blindly following the Compass Box full disclosure campaign, as I appreciate most consumers actually don't care. It's purely a price decision and consistency for many whisky consumers and why cater just for the minority? However I'd appreciate the option and for this Glenallachie its not a bottling that'll be purchased by your supermarket blend devotee.

Glenallachie is one of these Speyside blend workhorses that currently belongs to the Chivas Brothers (Pernod Ricard) group and was purchased to provide spirit for the extremely popular (in France) Clan Campbell blended Scotch whisky. It's a recent arrival to distilling having been founded in 1967 and much like other distilleries in the Chivas group quietly goes about its business. So much so I've never ventured past it, nor taken a photograph which is highly unusual.

Unlike the glorious, immense and unforgettable Tormore, Glenallachie has never been granted an official single malt release. That was at least true until 2005 when Chivas offered a 50cl cask strength bottling which is aimed at enthusiasts or visitors to its distilleries that offer tours. Another bottling in the series was released in 2014. Unfortunately Glenallachie remains out of the spotlight and does not offer tours, which is the same with the cathedral of whisky that is Tormore distillery unless you ask nicely in advance...

So I think we've all learned something about Glenallachie distillery today. Lets see how this independent bottling shapes up? This sample was kindly provided by the Tweed master himself; Mark at Malt-Review. If you haven't visited his site then please do its almost as entertaining as Whisky Rover. This Glenallachie is bottled at 51.7% and you can tell it hasn't seen a drop of artificial colouring.

Colour: a very light clay
Nose: a noticeable green arrival with pears, apples and grapes. White wine vinegar, white chocolate, icing sugar sweetness and a grating of ginger. Marzipan for sure and with water the fruit aspect intensifies with more creaminess.
Taste: a touch of malt, crushed grapes and sliced limes. Shortbread biscuits, white pepper, whipped cream and with water lemons. 

Overall: from this tasting Glenallachie is a very light, fragrant and crisp whisky that lends itself well towards blending. Nothing hugely distinctive or memorable but approachable and refreshing in nature. Arguably not worth the initial asking price but its subsequent selling out shows the demand is there; what do I know eh? It's all down to individual choice.