The GlenAllachie Distillery

The GlenAllachie’s story

The Glenallachie is a Speyside single malt distillery that has been reawakened in recent years. After decades as a workhorse for the blending industry, new ownership brought a change of focus and emphasis. The Glenallachie is now establishing itself as a single malt brand and building a cult following. A combination of an award-winning core range with innovative and experimental limited editions has driven this.

The Glenallachie is a rich and fruity style of single malt. The spirit has a creamy and robust feel with nutty notes and green apple. The style works matures particularly well in ex-sherry casks, predominantly Oloroso and Pedro Ximenez. However, The Glenallachie is also innovative and experimental with its limited editions and single casks. The versatile spirit works well with different wood types and some unorthadox ones have featured.

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The GlenAllachie’s history

The Glenallachie was founded in 1967 by Mackinlay, McPherson & Co. – a subsidiary of the Scottish & Newcastle Breweries Limited. They built The Glenallachie to expand their Scotch whisky capacity. It is located near the Speyside village of Aberlour. The architect William Delmé-Evans, known for a number of distilleries built in the 1960s including Jura and Macduff, was commissioned. He designed the distillery buildings but also sourced the location for the distillery.

The distillery hit troubled times in the 1980s. Two changes of ownership and a slump in Scotch whisky sales caused closure between 1987 and 1989. First, Scottish & Newcastle sold it to Invergordon Distillers – this is now part of Whyte & Mackay. They in turn sold to Campbell Distillers, which is now part of Pernod Ricard and Chivas Brothers.

The Glenallachie operated as part of Chivas Brothers until 2017. The spirit was a major ingredient in their popular Clan Campbell blend but also featured in Chivas Regal and Ballantine’s. Then, The Glenallachie Distillers Co. purchased the distillery along with existing maturing stocks. The company is headed by industry legend Billy Walker. He has previously sold his Benriach, Glendronach and Glenglassaugh distilleries to Brown-Forman. His goal was to establish The Glenallachie as a premium single malt brand.

• How to pronounce The GlenAllachie? glen-al-ah-key
• Country: Scotland
• Region: Speyside
• Founded: 1967
• Current owners: The Glenallachie Distillers Co.
• Production capacity per year: 4 million litres
• Mash tun: 9.4 ton
• Washbacks: 8
• Stills: 4
• Visitor centre: Yes

The GlenAllachie Distillery
Glenallachie
Aberlour
Moray
AB38 9LR
tel – +44(0)1340 872547
theglenallachie.com

Did you know?

The Glenallachie has one of the longest fermentation times in the Scotch whisky industry at 160 hours. This makes its spirit extra fruity and rich, which is perfect for lengthy maturation in ex-sherry casks.