This single cask GA was selected for the Dutch market, and widely available in many NL whisky shops. It was distilled 18.3.2009 and bottled in September 2019, a 10-year-old Madeira cask aging or so it seems, as no finishing is mentioned on the label. bottled at a nice 57.2% abv for a total of 309 bottles ( I have bottle #64 for all it’s worth). 10 years in Madera casks can make your whisky quite Madeira-esq , hopefully, that’s not going to happen here, or is it?
GlenAllachie 2009 Madeira cask #3821 , 57.2% , ~€ 80
Nose: Quite a bit of wine in this one (which isn’t unexpected given the amount of time the liquid rested in the Madeira wood): grapes, grape peel, red fruit, a lot of gummy bears, orange peel and old skool sweets, a certain sourness as well, from the wine obviously. Not much of the original GA distillate profile here…
Palate: Starting hot with some heat, and then more sweet fruit, grapes, orchard fruit (peach, apricot, plum) and more grape/sultana/cherries, some berry jam as well, and quite a lot of wine tannins.
Finish : The finish is of medium length – quite nice actually – with chocolate, berries, sweet and nutty.
Conclusion: This isn’t a bad whisky, it’s quite nice actually – a bit over the top when it comes to balancing the Allachie and the Madeira which is very strong on this one.