An ex-bourbon Glenallachie single cask laid down in the same year and bottled by Cadenhead for its 175th anniversary is amongst the best unpeated whiskies I've ever had. Tough act to follow, then, for this Cadenhead Small Batch bottling.

Distillery: Glenallachie

Region: Speyside

Price: $19/60ml

Cask Type: Vatting of 2 ex-bourbon hogsheads

ABV: 56.0%

Chill-filtered: No

Color: 0.9, amontillado sherry (natural colour).

Rested for ~10 minutes, before drunk neat in a glencairn.

Nose: Quite a reticent nose, only brine and brown sugar. After two drops of water, very distinct full cream milk, with a bit of melon as well.

Palate: Very dry. I can only get vanilla neat. With water, milk custard and more melon. Rough.

Finish: More vanilla and buttercream. Oddly, grilled courgettes and Yorkshire pudding with water.

Conclusion: Well that was underwhelming. Nowhere near the 1992 25yo Glenallachie Cadenhead Single Cask. Even putting the comparison aside, the dryness and roughness doesn't help the lack of depth to it. Some glimmers of promise with the milkiness and melon though. Maybe it needs even more water and air to show its merits, but I did give much more than I would for many whiskies already.

If it were named by the SMWS: A husk of its former self

Score: 76

Scotch Review #35, Whiskey Network Review #37

H.Y.