At the recent World Whiskies Awards which took place on March 26, independent Scotch whisky brand The GlenAllachie was crowned with the World’s Best Single Malt at the highly anticipated World Whiskies Awards. The winning expression was The GlenAllachie’s 12-year-old, which the judges rated for its flavour profile of ‘dried apple, gourmet chutney, orange zest, nutmeg and cinnamon’. This win comes in the wake of The GlenAllachie’s earlier win in the same category in 2021, then for its 10-year-old Cask Strength Batch 4 single malt.
What makes this win all the more notable is that The GlenAllachie is the only Scottish whisky to win in the Best Single Malt category since 2017. The year 2017 is also seminal because it was then that Scotch industry veteran, qualified chemist and master distiller Billy Walker acquired The GlenAllachie – a distillery founded in 1967.
Towards the end of last year, Robb Report Malaysia caught up with Walker who was in town celebrating the 25th anniversary of its regional distributor Asiaeuro. At the GlenAllachie dinner which took place at Gordon Ramsay Bar & Grill, Walker was at his charming best, sharing his insights and experiences, gained from a career which began in 1972, with a gathered group of whisky connoisseurs, all of whom were eager to also have Walker add his signature to the limited edition bottles on offer, namely the 35 Year Old and the commemorative 2006 Single Cask.
Over a meal of Orkney scallops, braised Hanwoo short ribs, and Valrhona chocolate desserts, guests enjoyed drams of The GlenAllachie 8YO, 10YO, 12YO, 15YO and, to cap it off, the 2006 expression which had been bottled specially to commemorate the occasion of Asiaeuro’s silver anniversary.
Recounting his early days, Walker mentioned that when he got the call offering him the opportunity to purchase The GlenAllachie, he had no hesitation because ‘it was a wonderful distillery’. “Then comes the challenge, how do you want to define the personality of The GlenAllachie going forward?” he says. Working with the existing stock of approximately 50,000 available casks, Walker remembers the gargantuan task that lay in deciding which casks to transfer the whisky into. And, in parallel, the muscularity of spirit to be produced in the stills.
“For me, it was relatively easy – I wanted to define The GlenAllachie going forward as a rich sherry-styled whisky.” Walker’s love for the Pedro Ximenez and oloroso would see a much greater deal of maturation taking place in virgin casks (those which had not yet had any whisky in it) and a small batch of wine casks. “The role of these virgin casks, which are toasted and also charred – and going a little bit into chemistry – is that the cellulose and tannins begin to convert into fructose, maltose and spicy notes.”
This arrangement becomes the flavour backbone of the The GlenAllachie, conferring notes of Christmas cake, sweet plums, cherries, cinnamon, nutmeg, dates, figs, a hint of bitter cloves, chocolate and mocha – the last two being signature contributions from oloroso casks.
Walker points out that for the uncharred casks, the spirit takes some time to penetrate into the wood, to start convincing the flavours to come out. “A lot of the fun flavours from a PX cask are really from the insinuating sherry that is present during the seasoning – and our expectation and formulation is lies in balancing the deeper notes of oloroso.”
The final flourish, which manifest as the single malt expressions of The GlenAllachie, exhibits the mastery of Walker’s learned instincts, honed over five decades and a bit in the whisky industry. Dates, chocolate, figs and mocha reveal itself with the 12YO, attaining a deeper richness with the 15YO and finally with the cask strength.
The GlenAllachie 35 Year Old is redolent with notes of spiced caramel, espresso, and sweet tropical fruits.
“I implore you tonight, to taste the cask strength which has been bottled at 60.1 per cent ABV (alcohol by volume) – in my opinion it should be comfortable in your mouth – without adding any water,” Walker motions to the diners. For this expression, chosen to honour Asiaeuro’s special milestone, Walker selected an oloroso puncheon filled with spirit distilled in 2006 which sat quietly in the dark warehouse for 16 years, developing its rich flavours over time up till its bottling in 2023. “What you’ll pick up tonight – as with all oloroso casks – is a special depth of chocolate, mocha coffee with rich dates, figs and on top of that, layers of cinnamon, cardamom and nutmeg.”
The ensuing success of The GlenAllachie at the recent World Whiskies Awards adds another feather in Walker’s richly plumed hat. “The whole GlenAllachie team are absolutely thrilled at this extraordinary endorsement of the 12-year-old: our flagship expression,” Walker shares in a release. “When we took the reins at the distillery almost eight years ago, it was beyond our wildest dreams that a previously low-profile whisky would be crowned the world’s best single malt twice – especially within such a short timeframe.”
Photos courtesy of Asiaeuro
