When you work in distribution and importation, you get to try a lot of booze. Unfortunately, 99.9% of it is the booze in your portfolio and little else. It’s a stark contrast to retail where you get to try everything, from every producer, in every portfolio sold in the state you do business in.
When I first worked in retail between 2007 - 2018, I was tasting upwards of sixty new products a day. But for the last two and half years I’ve been siloed, without access to the broader market. Knowing that I was heading back to retail in the interim, I began reaching out last month to friends and suppliers in California to start playing catch up.
While blowing through countless bottles of single malt, there were two whiskies (new to me) that absolutely knocked my socks off. One more than the other, but both are simply divine. Let’s start with the GlenAllachie 12 year:
WHY: GlenAllachie 12 is the richest, fruitiest, most mouth-coating sherry-aged 12 year old single malt on the market right now. It’s like liquid milk chocolate on the palate and the price is absolutely right.
HOW: Using a combination of PX Sherry, Oloroso Sherry, and Virgin Oak casks, Billy Walker (of GlenDronach and Benriach fame) has found the literal sweet spot with this fantastic release. It meanders from cakebread to ginger snaps, but it’s the unmistakable note of chocolate on the finish that seals the deal.
WHAT: GlenAllachie Distillery, formerly part of the Chivas Blended empire, was purchased in 2017 by an independent group who immediately brought in veteran Billy Walker to put his mark on the malts. The entire line-up was revamped in 2018 and an exciting array of new releases has been coming since. The 12 year is bottled at 46% ABV.
Simply put: if you like Macallan 12, then you’re really going to like GlenAllachie 12.
If you like GlenDronach 12, then you’re really going to like GlenAllachie 12.
I’ve been drinking it non-stop since I first got the bottle and, no matter what mood I’m in, this whisky delivers the goods every single time. My wife bought a bag of Italian chocolate cookies from Eataly last week and I about died after that pairing. I couldn’t stop eating more cookies and drinking more GlenAllachie because it was so damn delicious. The sherry flavors are never bitter, or tannic, or over the top in any way. Ultimately, it’s the balance of this whisky that’s so utterly impressive. There are no rough edges and nothing is out of place.
Case in point: you need this in your life. Get a bottle now. Maybe even get two. Your mouth will thank you.
Now let’s talk about the new Kilchoman “Am Bùrach,” which means “a mess” in Gaelic. We’ll get to the story in a minute, but let me tell you first: this whisky is far from a mess. It’s my new go-to Islay malt and it’s the one whisky in my collection that continues to wow my socially-distanced guests when I pour it for them during our backyard tasting sessions. Here’s the scoop:
WHY: Because the combination of sweet and peat, when done well, is one of the most enticing and intoxicating flavors in the world of whisky, and the Kilchoman “Am Bùrach” is a masterful marriage of soft, supple fruit flavors and potent Islay peat smoke.
HOW: A batch of Kilchoman “Machir Bay,” matured in Bourbon and Sherry, was accidentally vatted together with the Port-matured Kilchoman, so it took additional maturation of six years in Bourbon barrels and a six month finishing in ruby Port casks to round out the mistake.
WHAT: The resulting “mess” is roughly 10,500 bottles of 9 year old Kilchoman, bottled at 46% ABV, matured three different types of casks, multiple times!
There was a time when I would tell customers to splurge on a bottle of Lagavulin 16 or Talisker 18 to get a real idea of the pleasure that peated island whisky could deliver. Today, however, given the price hikes, the tariffs, and the general decline in the price-to-flavor ratio, I’m switching my allegiance to the Am Bùrach. It’s not cheap at $129.95, but for the extra dough you’re getting a true crowd pleaser that will have you going back for seconds and thirds.
Kilchoman’s small scale of production and even smaller heart cuts (the portion of the whisky that is kept during distillation) have proven time and time again to work. When I say “work,” I mean that Kilchoman is able to create whiskies of impeccable quality at an age much younger than its Islay competitors. That process costs more for the consumer, but as I’ve personally experienced many times, Kilchoman’s whiskies are often more potent, more concentrated, and more delicious than many of the genre’s older expressions.
If you’re a fan of sweet peat, this is a home run. If you’re a fan of Islay whiskies, this is the best tasting new Islay whisky I’ve had this year. The nose is a hedonistic splendor of butterscotch melting over a peat fire. The sweetness from the Port on the palate rounds out the entry, softening the journey for the rest of the elements: salt, smoke, fresh peat, caramel, and cherries.
YUM……
-David Driscoll