Allt-A-Bhainne 18 Year Old 1995 Chapter 7

Allt-A-What? Indeed, this in 1975 built Speyside distillery is a noble unknown for the simple reason that she produces exclusively for the blending industry. I have no experience with this as it is only my second and it has been over four years when I tried my first Allt-A-Bhainne.

The nose is nicely sweet on candied orange rind, apricot pastry and a truckload of vanilla. Spicy too. Think pepper, nutmeg and a hint of cinnamon. Some roasted almonds. Hints of coconut liqueur. With water it becomes a tad sweeter.

Nicely oily, almost syrupy, but immediately very spicy. The spices are quite loud, leaving no room for the fruit to shine. Let me add some water, eh? Much better. Wonderfully fruity on oranges, apricots and coconut, with a good dollop of honey on top. It does become honeysweet. Loads of ginger to replace the cinnamon and nutmeg. The pepper remains. This is quite good. Midpalate it evolves towards a mildly bitter orange marmalade. Nice!

The finish is long and spicy on citrus and pepper, even diluted.

How nice that this cask did not disappear into 100 Pipers of Chivas Regal. What a pleasant surprise! But it definitively needs water. Thanks, Jurgen, for the sample.

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