Glenallachie 38 Year Old 1973 Malts of Scotland

It was only last summer that I tasted my first Glenallachie, a 16 Year Old from Malts of Scotland. Today, the same independent bottler surprises us with a Glenallachie of 38 years old. The cask – of which the number is no longer revealed as MoS now uses release numbers – yielded only 125 bottles. I felt the younger version was a blenders’ whisky. Let’s see how the old one does.

The nose is a mixture of orchard and tropical fruits. Golden Delicious apples, pears, melon, gooseberry, but also slightly overripe apricots. Just like with the younger version, I cannot get the ‘olfactory image’ (oh, my, what am I saying?) of potato peel out of my head. The whole is a strange kind of sourish… yoghurt? It evaporates after a few minutes, though. But I did not image it (and it is not an off note!).

It is mouthcoating and warm from the first sip. Again fruity, primarily pear. Again those Golden Delicious apples. And lemon pie! Vanilla, almonds, light pepper. No yoghurt, this time. Maybe it was my imagination after all. The oak speaks now with a slightly bitter and drying touch. This is a very complex drink, if you ask me.

The drying and bitter oak continues in the lingering finish.

Boy, am I glad this was bottled as a single malt. This is anything but a blenders’ whisky. Good stuff. Unfortunately, due to age and limited availability, it will set you back about 169 EUR.

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