Glenallachie distillery is located in Aberlour, Banffshire (Speyside) and is one of Scoland's newer distilleries, being founded in 1967 Mackinley McPherson (Scottish & Newcastle breweries).

Glenallachie was bought in 1985 by Invergordon Distillers who closed the distillery two years later in 1987.

Campbell Distillers, a subsidiary of Pernod Ricard bought the distillery in 1989 and are the current owners as they run it under their Chivas Bro's company.

Most of the output from Glenallachie which has a capacity of 2.8 million litres of pure alcohol per year, obviously goes into the production of the Chivas Bro's range of blended whiskies, although as you see below, some bottlings of single malt are available from time to time.

More great distillery information here thanks to Malt Madness.

My thanks to Teun van Wel for permission to copy & use the distillery photos

General whisky characteristics: OB bottlings are quite rare as most of the production goes to the various Chivas-owned blends, but when you find one expect a delicate & complex dram

Glenallachie,  distilled 1989, bottled 2008, 18y, 57.1% ABV, sherry cask

A quite rare OB from Glenallachie, bottled at cask strength for distillery sales only.

Typical cost of this bottle; €€€€€

Nose: Toasted raisins on an open camp fire.

Palate: Rich raisins coated in marzipan lingering forever.

With 4 drops of water: The nose intensifies and so does the taste. The marzipan is brought to the fore and it lasts even longer on the middle of the tongue, tingling and warming for an extremely long time.

With 4 more drops of water: The whisky is initially livened even more, although in retrospect, I think the first four were enough.

Overall Impression: A rare opportunity to try an OB Glenallachie, albeit heavily sherried, but if you like full-bodied sherry cask whiskies this is a must, as it just goes on and on and on ........

Whisky & Chocolate: In combination with a Ginger praline from Franz this Glenallachie was taken to yet another dimension.

Glenallachie,  distilled 1990, bottled 2006, 16y, 57.8% ABV, sherry cask

A different age and cask to the one above, this was brought to Munich whisky festival - 2009

(Sorry, but I used the same label picture as above, this is a different year / age, but the presentation is the same)

Typical cost of this bottle; €€€€€

Nose: Sherry with hints of disinfected wood

Palate: Very hot currants and raisins. Very intense but also very short finish.

With 7 drops of water: Softer nose with less disinfectant. It's also much smoother, not so aggressive and now includes a pleasant marzipan flavour.

Overall Impression: Too much alcohol and disinfectant burn without water, much better with water.

Author's extra note: It's amazing what difference the cask and a couple of extra years can make. Essentially the same whisky as in the note above, but that other one is much more refined and far better.

Speciality Drinks, Glenallachie,  35y, 46.9% ABV

SMoS Anniversary bottling, one of 685 bottles

Typical cost of this bottle; €€€€€

Reviewed (blind) as part of MMA 2011

Glass: Classic Malt

Colour: Rich dark amber

Nose: Very rich and forthcoming with lots of wood, furniture polish, almonds and a light dustiness. After some minutes various floral elements appear but then again after a further 2-3 minutes these fade to leave only traces of lightly toasted wood.

Palate: Primarily dry whilst a suggestion of wood, nuts and dark fruits expand across the sides and back of palate.

Finish: Long, rich and quite dry

Overall Impression: A good after dinner whisky with lots happening, but the nose just fades too soon for me.