Time for some wooden jugglery from GlenAllachie. We begin this session with a GlenAllachie 2011 Classic ‘Cuvée Cask End’, a French impressed idea from the palms of Billy Walker. It combines preliminary maturation in American oak barrels with a end in three cask sorts: Pedro Ximénez puncheons, Madeira barriques and Port pipes. This bottling is unique to Kirsch Import in Germany.
The opposite one is a GlenAllachie 2008 bottled for Wine4You in Belgium. This was taken from a Missouri Chinquapin barrel.
GlenAllachie 2011 Classic ‘Cuvée Cask End’ (54,9%, OB for Kirsch Import, PX / Madeira / Port end)
Nostril: a candy and bitter fruitiness at first, a mixture of cranberries with strawberry jam and citrus. Then darker aromas come ahead, like liquorice and hints of candy espresso. Lemon pepper. Sweetness and brightness on the similar time. I’m not the most important fan of Port finishes and this solely seems within the background.
Mouth: fairly candy once more, with a lot of purple berries and jammy plums. Raisins too. Then the spicy oak units in, with pepper, cinnamon and clove. Barely extra winey now, in comparison with the nostril. Chocolate and low beans within the background. Delicate natural bitterness and gingery notes in direction of the tip.
End: lengthy, at all times balancing between purple fruits and extra woody / spicy notes. Rising chocolate notes ultimately.
A slightly wealthy GlenAllachie, providing bits and items of various wine kinds. An attention-grabbing experiment, not overly winey. Not good both, thoughts you. Obtainable from loads of German shops for round € 70.
GlenAllachie 12 yo 2008 (58,6%, OB for Wine4You, Chinquapin barrel #6915, 258 btl.)
Nostril: a lot of oranges and orange peels, steadily mixed with jammy peaches and hints of Haribo bears. Yellow raisins and baked bananas. Very candy and fruity, albeit with a aromatic trace of contemporary wooden shavings on high. Marshmallow and baking spice in a while.
Mouth: nonetheless actually candy, but additionally spicy and barely scorching. Nonetheless marshmallows, vanilla, citrus sweet and tinned apricots. Some heather honey and toffee. Mid-palate it presents huge gingery notes, in addition to some anise and white pepper. Drying notes of tobacco leaves ultimately. Seville oranges and hints of cedar too.
End: lengthy, at all times balancing between fruits and fragrant wooden. Dried coconut. Creating a slight astringency because it fades.
A lot of the experiences I’ve had with Chinquapin have been so-so. That mentioned, this specific cask leaves a greater impression than the GlenAllachie 2010 they chose in Holland. The jammy fruits are very nice. Nonetheless some bottles obtainable from Wine4You, if I’m not mistaken. Rating: 85/100
