Back in 2012, while on the hunt for casks in Scotland, I spent a week driving through the Highlands, targeting the independent distilleries because of their willingness to work with us. Getting large multi-national corporations to break from company protocol in order to sell a California retailer one individual barrel isn’t the easiest thing to do; hence, why I had meetings with smaller producers like Edradour, Glenfarclas, and an obscure distillery way off the beaten path in the eastern part of the region: GlenDronach.
After getting lost several times, I finally made it to the appointment and proceeded to have my mind absolutely blown by what I tasted: rich, decadent malts absolutely saturated in Sherry, yet surprisingly fresh and exuberant, rather than cloying or overly sulfurous. Getting Sherry maturation just right isn’t easy, and I soon learned why GlenDronach seemed to have it down: a guy named Billy Walker.
Not only did Billy Walker completely revamp GlenDronach’s inventory and turn the brand into an industry darling, he did the same with Benriach’s wildly variant stocks from the old Seagram’s days. The guy knows what he’s doing (or should I say has a nose for what he’s doing?), and last year was named Master Blender of the Year by Whisky Magazine as part of their Icons of Scotland awards.
In fact, Billy did such a good job at Benriach and GlenDronach that Brown-Forman (aka Jack Daniels) came in and bought both distilleries in 2017, bringing in Rachel Barrie to take over the blending. Many people thought it to be Billy’s swan song, but the man wasn’t done yet.
I hadn’t been actively following the single malt world since leaving the industry in 2018, but last month my friends at Impex sent me a bottle of GlenAllachie 12 year to welcome me back. It completely rocked my world. It was so damn good I couldn’t believe it; rich and coated with fudge, but simultaneously sweet and balanced from front to back. I jumped on the internet to find out more, and—sure enough—the answer was clear: Billy Walker was back and up to his same old tricks, creating masterful single malt expressions at the newly revamped Highland distillery.
Needing to get myself up to speed, I reached out to Billy recently to get all the details about the project. I was going to be telling everyone and anyone to buy as much GlenAllachie as they can afford, so I wanted to make sure I knew my stuff. Finding time to talk in the midst of holiday madness with an eight hour time difference isn’t easy, but we found a window to catch up.
Our brief conversation is below:
David: What made you decide to restart all over again at GlenAllachie after your successes at Benriach and GlenDronach?
Billy: I’m too young to retire! The opportunity to be involved in the acquisition of GlenAllachie was simply too good to be turned down. Remember I’ve been a blender for almost fifty years so I knew GlenAllachie was simply an outstanding whisky. In addition there was a great portfolio of casks, we now have almost 50,000 dating back to the 1970’s. GlenAllachie had also never been released as a single malt so it was blank canvas to work on. We didn’t have to unpick the work of anyone else out in the market.
David: Getting the chance to start over with a blank canvas isn’t lost on me! I get it. What about the spirit itself? I don’t know much about how GlenAllachie is made.
Billy: That was other thing that was crucial to me: GlenAllachie is a robust spirit that stands up well to long maturation and doesn’t get overpowered by the wood. This fitted with my plans for the distillery. The style is full-bodied, but what has been particularly interesting is how this lends itself to maturation in different types of oak, which are rich in character and activity. We are continuing to explore this with different woods, different vintages, and we will see where the journey takes us in the years to come.
David: What’s something that most consumers don’t know about GlenAllachie that you think is interesting or cool?
Billy: Like many distilleries, GlenAllachie operated under the radar before being free to express its personality as a single malt; to think of this distillery right in the heart of Speyside, with such a substantial stock and to be unheard of is astonishing. The period from October 2017 has allowed GlenAllachie to drive its rich personality into the single malt world and rectify this.
David: You are clearly the king of Sherry, in my mind. No one blends Sherry butts together as well as you. What do you look for when locating Sherry barrels for maturation?
Billy: The quality of the wood is super important, we have been working with the same suppliers for decades and they know exactly what we’re looking for; casks which have nurtured sherry yet the characteristics of the oak wood are still vibrant.
David: When people ask me why the whiskies from GlenAllachie taste so good, I tell them the same guy who revamped Glendronach is behind the brand. But what’s the more detailed reason? Why are the whiskies so good?
Billy: That’s an easy one: when you start out with an outstanding spirit, then the battle is won already. All that’s required is to finesse the maturing spirit with the best wood, you know? Our 2020 cask budget was $1.2 million dollars, for a company our size just setting out that is a phenomenal amount of cash but we simply will not scrimp on quality.
David: I’m sure inventory management is a big part of the job.
Billy: We’re a very hands-on operation, the distillery team of Richard, Lindsey, and myself are always checking the casks and monitoring the progress. When it’s ready to bottle we’ll do so, or if it requires a change of direction then we’ll do so. It’s as simple as that. We’re also careful about bottling strengths, our core range is always a minimum 92 proof, but for certain expressions we’re not afraid to bottle higher to get a better balance and flavor. The GlenAllachie 25 Year Old, for example, sits at 96 proof. We’ll do the same when we bottle a special release which has undergone secondary maturation.
-David Driscoll