A great drinker from an under-rated distillery. I enjoyed every drop of this bottle. I'll be on the look out for others.
The details
Distillery: Allt A'Bhainne, built 1975
Owner: Chivas Brothers/Pernod Ricard
Translation: "Milk Burn"
Region: Speyside
Bottler: Douglas Laing
Age: 12 years
Distilled/bottled: November 2008/March 2021
Bottle: 70cl. Good cork, but not a great fit.
Number of bottles: 435
ABV: 46%
Cask type: Single cask: Refill hogshead DL14655
Barley: Unstated
Yeast: Unstated
Filtered/coloured: Un-chill-filtered, natural colour.
Sample date: Tuesday 7th June 2022 (around 90 minutes tasting)
Peated/unpeated: Allt A'Bhainne spirit is apparently "lightly peated", but I couldn't find any peatiness in this. That could be because I prefer heavily peated whisky.
Cost: £57.40 from whisky-online.com
Availability: Single cask, limited edition. Still available at this time.
Barcode: Obscured by whisky-online.com's own barcode.
More info: Can't find!
Allt A'Bhainne is a distillery you don't often hear about. It's not the oldest. Or the youngest. Or the biggest. Or the smallest. But it was one of the first "modern" design distilleries. It's Speyside, but it's off the beaten track. It sits at the foot of Ben Rinnes—but on the opposite side of the hill from the river. To me, the distillery building itself reminds me of an Aviemore hotel.
This is part of my distillery bagging "project" (for want of a better word). E.g. where Munro bagging means climbing every 3,000+ foot mountain in Scotland, distillery bagging means trying a dram from every distillery in Scotland.
Tasting notes
Eye
Straw gold. Skinny legs, and plenty of them. Like of a row of chorus dancers.
Nose
Before water: The first thing that hits me is funky, malty fruitiness and almond slices. Then a bit of Milkybar white chocolate, Smarties shells, lemon, and cherries. In the background there's an almost equal measure of muted dried fruits (raisin and dates, perhaps) and dry grassy notes. A thread of white pepper sits right down the middle. But there's something under that: the smell of an old Bombay Mix tin; spicy and metallic. Orange rind under there as well, mixed in with a nutty element (present in Chivas Regal). Floral whiffs and hints of new shoebox come and go. Deep down, there's creosoted pine, eggshell, and something sour. Apple Hubba Bubba gum. It all fits together rather nicely.
After water:
The almonds/vanilla fade, bringing digestive biscuits and creamy fruitiness to the front; reminds me of cranachan. The dry fruits have receded, making it more fresh-fruit-forward. The Smarties shell sweetness is still there. But it has shifted quite a bit in profile. Lighter. Sweeter. There's something I can't pinpoint; perhaps a new carpet smell.
SCORE: 20/25
Taste
Apple Hubba Bubba is back, with sweet malty cereal. Vanilla. Chocolate orange. A touch of copper. Well-integrated alcohol makes its presence, but it doesn't overwhelm. About right for a 12 year old. Well-balanced woodyness. It's less complex than the nose (although I do tend to take 30+ minutes on the nose and a less on the palette, so perhaps that's being unfair).
After water:
Beautifully fruity and biscuity. The spice is still there, but muted. Now I'm getting some bay leaf....and some other herbal elements. Interesting.
SCORE: 18/25
Finish
Cocoa, orange, medium spice. Squished pear skins. The spice fades. The cocoa really lingers.
After water:
Still cocoa/chocolate. Now cherries and (muted) double cream. Very like a black forest gateaux (extra points for this!). Wood dust/pencil shavings. A faint coffee bean note. After a bit more water, it still stands up because there's enough going on in the glass.
SCORE: 20/25
Overall
I enjoyed this tasting, and the casual dramming of this bottle. It's not remarkably complex, but it is well-balanced. A good drinker. I loved the black forest gateaux that jumped out on the finish after a bit of water; my favourite desert when I was a kid.
SCORE: 20/25
Final verdict
I don't get why Allt A'Bhainne is ignored. Actually, I do. It's not marketed properly as a single malt. It's a workhorse distillery for Chivas Regal (to be fair, a decent blend), so they're not motivated to push this—especially after their failed attempt to push it as a single malt a few years ago. I had a dram of that in the gin/curry house in Pitlochry a few months ago (the one up the hill) and there was nothing to it. Totally forgettable. Not this one, though. It has good character.
It also seems there aren't many independent bottlings being released, so if people are a fan of the spirit, they can't get a regular supply. The amount of time I've spent with this dram (well, couple of drams)—around an hour and a half—indicates this is a distillery that should be investigated further. The fancy, designed official bottling wasn't great, but I'll be looking out for other single cask independent bottlings from Allt A'Bhainne.
A great drinker from an under-rated distillery. I enjoyed every drop of this bottle. I'll be on the look out for others. Some people would consider it over-priced, but for me it was well worth it.
Good stuff. I can get my hands on a single cask/cask strength Allt A'Bhainne, I will.
TOTAL: 78/100
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