GlenAllachie

MAD MEN AND SINGLE MALTS

The GlenAllachie Distillery was one of many distilleries built in Scotland as a direct result of the whisky boom of the 1960s. Driven mainly by the US market, it was the whisky-loving Don Drapers in the wood panelled offices of Chicago, LA and New York, reaching into their teak cabinets to pour dram after dram into crystal tumblers, who were responsible, in an era when you could do that sort of thing.

Established in 1967 in Speyside, Aberlour, the GlenAllachie Distillery was built by Scottish & Newcastle Breweries’ distilling subsidiary, Mackinlay Macpherson. In 1989 the distillery was sold to Campbell Distillers/Pernod Ricard. Throughout the 50 years of production GlenAllachie had never been nurtured as a single malt.

However, in 2017 the distillery took an exciting turn when three industry veterans came together and purchased the GlenAllachie Distillery. With over 100 years of experience between them, Billy Walker, Trisha Savage and Graham Stevenson are injecting new life and enthusiasm into the distillery. They are on a path to create a new legacy for the GlenAllachie Single Malt brand. A capital ‘A’ was added to the distillery name, in keeping with the changes Walker made to BenRiach and GlenDronach under his stewardship.

So far the new chapter for the distillery has produced a new core range of 10, 12, 18 and 25 year old whisky released in 2018 as well as six additional hand-picked single cask released to celebrate 50 years since the first date of production in February 1968. All the whiskies are natural in colour, non-chill-filtered and bottled at a minimum of 46% ABV. Master Distiller, Billy Walker was thrilled with the vast amount of aged stock they inherited with the purchase, some dating back to the 1970s. He says they have been given the gift of time.

The vision of the three is for the quality of the whisky to always be the top priority. They want to write a new story for the brand whilst introducing the world to the old but new, GlenAllachie Speyside Single Malts. Lightness is a characteristic of most of the distilleries that were built in the 1960s, however, the new ownership are relaunching GlenAllachie as a distillery known for its ‘big’, fruity malt whisky. That includes lengthening fermentation times to add an enhanced fruitiness and more structured and full-bodied quality to the final spirit. Recently the distillery launched a limited edition range of wood finishes including a 10 year old Port Wood Finish and the 12 year old Pedro Ximenez Sherry Wood Finish. Billy Walker selected barrels from among the 50,000 casks in the 16 warehouses at the distillery, for the additional maturation period.

The GlenAllachie Distillery might have been born in the 1960s but it is yet to realise its full potential. Who says life doesn’t start at 50.