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GlenAllachie Distillery opens visitor centre
Speyside distillery The GlenAllachie has opened its new visitor centre and launched an exclusive single cask bottling for the Spirit of Speyside Festival.
The GlenAllachie Distillery started releasing whiskies for the first time in 2018
The distillery will offer visitors tours of The GlenAllachie for the first time in more than 50 years.
Under Pernod Ricard’s ownership, the site was predominantly used for blending and closed to the public.
Billy Walker, former managing director of the BenRiach Distillery Company, bought the GlenAllachie distillery with a consortium of investors for an undisclosed sum from Pernod Ricard in 2017.
The consortium included Trisha Savage, former general manager at BenRiach, and Graham Stevenson, ex-managing director at Inver House Distillers.
Karen McWilliam, who previously worked at the GlenDronach distillery, will manage the new visitor centre.
McWilliam said: “This is a historic and exciting time for everyone here at GlenAllachie as we start to welcome people to our new visitor centre and to take a tour of the distillery for the first time in over 50 years.
“For a long time, the distillery has been one of Speyside’s best-kept secrets, but now we’re creating our own history with our single malts and the gates are open to everyone.”
The new visitor centre includes a shop with a range of branded merchandise, plus two single cask whiskies exclusive to the shop and hand-selected by Walker: a 12-year-old and 29-year-old.
The shop also offers visitors the chance to hand-fill their own bottle straight from a cask.
The 12-year-old distillery exclusive was matured in a Bourbon barrel, which Walker describes as tasting of “honey, apricots and mocha, with hints of mint”. It has an RRP of £95 (US$124).
The 29-year-old, which is priced at £350 (US$457), was matured in a hogshead and has notes of “toffee apples, mocha, pineapples and dark chocolate”.
Walker said: “The Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival is a highlight of the year with whisky fans from all the over the world flocking to the region.
“For many, this will be the first chance they’ve had to visit our distillery, visitor centre and shop and sample our single malt.
“I wanted to make the best possible first impression so I’ve personally selected two casks, which I believe provide wonderful examples of the type of single malt whisky we’re producing here.”
During the Spirit of Speyside Festival from 1-6 May 2019, The GlenAllachie Distillery will host three special events and launch an exclusive bottling.
Priced at £95 (US$124), The GlenAllachie Spirit of Speyside bottling is a 13-year-old malt matured in a Port pipe. Walker describes it as “brimming with heather honey, damsons, nutmeg and cinnamon with hints of mocha and rose hips.”