Is it worth it for this sherry bomb? | Glenallachie 10 REVIEW
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- čas přidán 30. 06. 2024
- I've got a single malt scotch whisky from the Glenallachie distillery today. This is their famous 10 year old. It's cask strength and offers up some pretty intense sherry flavour. I'll taste it and give you my thoughts. Cheers!
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Scores:
0-75 - Crap
75-79 - For cocktails & people you don't like
80-82 - Not bad
83-85 - Getting good here
86-89 - Delicious
90-94 - Awesome
95-100 - Cowabunga Dudes
First. Just bought this recently and I’m gonna compare this side by side with the glendronach
100% there with you on these pre-Billy Walker era distillate. My general take is that Billy is doing everything he can to sell the existing stock at more premium prices using re-racking, barrel selection, and finishing. The end result will be hits and misses.
Were clearly on the same page here. Again. 😉🥃
I have tried batches 3, 4, and 5. They are all different, and all quite good. Depending on the batch, they are at least on a par with, if not better then, a'Bunadh.
A'bunadh is still a thing? I almost forgot...it was always the benchmark for sherry bombs. Probably still is.
Hey, Geoff! Nice, honest review.
As much as I like to taste the distillate character along with the cask influence in my whisky I can't dismiss what Mr. Billy Walker does with those Glenallachie bottlings. So far I have tasted batch 3 and 6 of the 10 yo Cask Strength. The #3 was pretty fine, but the #6 has the intensity turned up to 11. Yes, it is all cask and all but is damn enjoyable dram. Plus, in Bulgaria I paid roughly 48 euros for batch 6 and ~53 euros for batch 7 which is the last batch available here. I dare anybody to point me at least equally as rich a dram for better price.
Cheers!
Cheap prices in Bulgaria.
Cheap prices in Bulgaria.
I also like better balanced whiskies nowadays. I like the typical sherry/bourbon play but more subtely done. Glen Elgin 12 for example, you get the spirit and both cask influences.
Thanks Geoff, for the clear and honest review. It helped in my decision not to pull the trigger on this batch 9 as I already had 1,2,4 and 8 it sounds like I wouldn’t be missing anything extraordinary. Cheers
I know what you mean when you say being in a sherry kind of mood, & yet I still reach past it for Glenturret, Edradour, Fettercairn, in fact just about anything else.
Great Review as always Geoff,
my GA CS 10yo is still waiting to be opened. Right now i have their Cuvee Cask Finish 2009 Sherry+Rioja Bottling open and i like it quiet a lot. Almost the same Flavour Profile as you said here about this 10yo CS .
Thanks for sharing your Thoughts and Opinion about this Expression of BWs work.
Greetings from Germany 😎🤘
Mmmmmm...itchy doughnuts genre whisky with a bad label. I'm in! Another great review, Geoff. I agree that this stuff is pretty ok for the price, and I'm happy to drink it at my brother's house. Because he buys it. Cheers!
Free whisky just tastes better, eh? 😉🥃
G, excellent and very fair review! Can’t seem to find Batch 9 in the States. Just ordered 8 from the West Coast. Have batches 3,5,6and 7 with 5 being my clear winner. Heard 8 is like 5 with 9 being a bit rougher. 10 is out in Europe already! Love them but getting tired of chasing just to keep up! As always truly love your Vids!! Neal
Only had the 12 and the 15 so far. Heard a lot about this but I don't know. Sounds like really a mood thing indeed. Maybe someday in winter it gonna hit me 😁
Thanks for the review Geoff! Slainte 🥃
Fine and funny 😁 review, thanks Geoff! I will search for it . Kind regards, S.
This is really a solid sherry bomb. At 10 years at cask strength for about $75 is good value IMO. I like having a sherry bomb on the shelf at all times
Agreed
Same as you G
Nowt wrong with GA whiskies just a bit too heavy predictable and cask driven , bought em , drunk em ..Move on lots more subtle interesting whiskies to try 👍
Yeah not something I need to come back to often. Cheers Allan. 🥃
As a "newer" whiskey drinker, this was my first proper sherry bomb and it blew me away. Having tried a wider range in the "genre" ;) I still think of it as extremely solid. Agreed on the price though - if it weren't cask strength giving this a little more bang for your buck, I'd be more hesitant to pick up another when I finish it.
Do you have any plans to review the new Meikle Toir line? I can't get it around me and I'm interested to see what folks think of it before I jump through hoops grabbing it online.
Great review as always, Geoff, cheers!
Hi Geoff, nice review.
Had batch 2 of the CS and no more batches after that one.
My main issue with Glenallachie is the very short finish on all the ones I tried.
As discussed earlier, seems for now it is just a money machine, raising the funding for creating the brand to come.
Meikle Toir will be the real proof if they are pulling of something special.
Sure Geoff, you are allowed to say ‘genre’. But… ‘the mood needs to be right’ (that’s what she said!)? Lol! Anyway, fully agree with your assessment. I prefer Glenallachie from IB & refill wood to actually get ‘Glenallachie’ instead of ‘cask’. Bought myself a 10CS and a 12 a few years back, downed them, wasn’t impressed and never got that ‘itch’ to resupply my bar. Was able to try a few samples since, of various wood type, but never changed my mind. Now, the new Billy-Walker-distillate, that could be something when it ages >12 years. Am waiting for that, I guess. Cheers!
Good point about IBs. I often hear the "lipstick on a pig" argument for Glenallachie. I used to agree until I tried a couple of Signatory releases from Glenallachie. I was genuinely impressed. As it stands, though, the style isn't something I need to return to very often. But yes... the newly distilled stuff could be interesting. 🥃
Yabadabadoooo.
Hi Geoff, had batch 3, good whisky but wasn’t really interested in buying other batches although the price is pretty decent , can pick this up for €60.For me I’m really enjoying the Benromach CS vintages got the bunnha 2022 CS and thinking about buying the highland park CS , good review Geoff .
Good call. All three of those alternatives, although quite different from this, are more to my taste as well. Cheers David! 🥃
I've had batch 4, 5, 6 and 7, still have an unopened batch 5. To me it's 4 different whiskies, I think batch 5 and 6 are my favorites, 5 is quite bright and fresh and 6 is really heavy, almost a bit dirty. But all 4 are great. I think they have become a bit high priced here in Sweden, so I choose to buy other bottles instead. Cheers
Seems you've explored them in much more detail than me. This is one that I'll come back to every few batches, so nice to know how it's changed! 🥃
I can definitely say that I would probably never buy these bottles purely because of how they look. Looks like something a high school student in the 90s taking “intro to digital design” would create, lol. That and I love my Glendronach.
I love that you don't love this!.....I love all GlenAllachie, and I'm admittedly a GlenAllachie fanboy, but the fact that you're obviously not swayed by the fanfare that this brand receives, makes me respect what your saying about each bottle you review, and gives me a really good idea on whether I'd like it or not. 👍🏼
Please try the new 5 years peated release from GA,it’s distilled after BW took over the distillery, wonder abt the quality of the liquor😂😂
I've only seen it once or twice here at exorbitant prices. Curious to try it, though. 🥃
No mystery pour…! Batch 8 is my favourite out of all. I had these GA 10CS against some other sherry bombs, weirdly I do think the GA spirit is lighter compared to a craigie, balmenach, tamdhu, even an aultmore and of course edradour all finished in FF Sherry casks. Anyway good review G!
I agree with you 100% - super accurate review - (and 12/15 they are very sweet). But I needed a Glenallachie in the sherry line - and the 10cs is the best to have this BW style as well. And that's why it's often just right, delicious, professional - it just doesn't have an extra side to it. However, it might be interesting to see where you would end up among many sherry bombs in a blind test :_D
Another sherry bomb ... ok, I'll sit this one through, Geoff. and for the record, I'm not itchy ...
Your review is informative as usual and my taste is not constructed for this whisky (as often the case with your reviews in recent times).
But there are definately whisky lovers who love this.
Slàinte mhath
p.s. Is this blunt enough?
I would tend to concur with the points made. It's hard to break out of the mold, especially when you`re talking heavily sherried whisky. This one is a whisky by numbers. One of a multitude, not one of a kind.
I’ve tried some older batches I think 4-5 perhaps and then the ones after. I don’t like the new ones. For me the Rioja casks murder this whisky. Such terrible acidic vinegary taste. And I overall hate GlenAllachie. They try to mask the bad spirit with using millions of types of casks. Not for me nor do I ever recommend this abomination to anyone. Great review nevertheless. Cheers Geoff!🥃🥃👊🏼🤩
But what do you really think?
I don't hate the spirit but I certainly didn't know anything when the Ralfy bump happened. I have a very pale 12 year old and batch 2 which which are not hiding behind wine and sherry.
Certainly it is a joke on us the way BW floods the market with all the wine finished inventory that he acquired. In the US they all have a premium price. The rye finish does play nicely with the dry spirit, IMO.
I saw these 10 years olds weren't going to be worth collecting and at $85 they are about $15 beyond my "value" perspective.
I'm definitely in a holding pattern for some aged BW distillate to come out in a few years
@@jackthepickledhound I do feel like older batches with less wine and sherry casks are better. And also I do think it's a huge joke. I mean limited edition "ONLY 120.000 bottles" come on bud. It's all marketing. I've seen an interview somewhere that he had millions of liters of spirit in very bad 4-5th fill bourbon casks when he had bought the distillery and he is trying to use all tyeps of casks to mask the bad spirit. And we get this heavily wine and sherry influenced abomination. I wouldn't buy another bottle for any money. Not even for 1 usd. Cheers bud.
Gamarjoba megobaro Geoff ))) I like Glenallachie , very nice 12 and 15 yo .Good review my friend , like ! Gaumarjos ! P.S. in whisky club Tbilisi meny member see your reviews ))))
Really? That's amazing! HELLO TO EVERYONE IN TBILISI! გაუმარჯოს! 🥃
@@Gwhisky Thank's ) I will tell then ) Slainte !
Definitely itchy...that night at the donkey show got weird. Could've been the donkey or the girl, can't remember!
Probably worth it, though. 🥃
Tried many different Glenallachies at tastings and bars, they're all OK but I never find myself buying full bottles of them. There's just something about Glenallachie that doesn't agree with me. If I want a sherry bomb I usually reach for a Tamdhu CS/15 or Edradour Caledonia/SFTC.
Good call, prefer those ones, too! 🥃
@GWhisky future reviews: I'm curious about what Bunna 18 is like these days. I know there's a few reviews from the past that say it's dipped a little in quality, just wondering if they've returned to form or not.
Good idea. I've got a Bunna 18 on the go and I definitely need to rereview it to cover how it's changed. 🥃
I opened one for my 10th wedding anniversary. I still love it, but I wouldn't buy it most of the time. It's better than the 12 but not worth three times the price.
What did you mean that GlenDronach is neither here nor there? Both have nice sherry finished whiskey “genres” 😂 which I really enjoy. I was curious on your thoughts.
Yeah I agree those tend to be more interesting than this. 🥃
Not swayed by a bottle or how it looks. If it’s not leaking I’m good. Sherry finished whiskey is something I enjoy from bourbon to scotch. Can it be over done sure but for the most part it’s a great accent flavor. I’m strictly a non-peated guy so speyside are in my go to whisky. Not sure if this is available around me I’ll have to look. Thanks Enjoy!!
If you're a Speyside guy who doesn't mind a heavy sherry influence then I'm sure you'll love it. It's good! 🥃
What is an active cask exactly? And what's the opposite? (In terms of taste/flavor)
I tried this after some youtubers picked it as their Whisky of the Year. And i was so disappointed. The fresh oak was just too present and the sherry notes reminded me of some of the seasoned cask disasters of the last years. Engineered, but not wholeheartedly crafted.
Did you try this one neat? I think it's better without water.
I've tried it both ways. 🥃
I know exactly what you mean by being in the "sherry bomb zone". The thing is there are different sherry styles as you say. I got a bottle of Batch 6 and I was surprised how much people were ranting about this stuff. The 15 did nothing for me either. I'm not saying it's bad but it's not for me. I honestly don't think Glenallachie are as good as Billy Waker era Glendronach or Benriach. My cask strength sherry bomb in today's market remains A'bunadh. I hated the price increase but it's still a delicious whisky.
I would buy it for $75 USD. Should have some Billy Walker influence in the aging process.
I found the whole brand a bit of a hot distillate. The enormous cask influence mask it but not for me. Tried the early 10 a couple of times but even after adding quite a lot of water, i still get a burning sensation. Same with the 12. Knowing what Billy Walker can do, i am very much interested in the new stuff. I think it will be better perhaps even a lot better.
How does it compare to the 12 and 15?
I prefer it, but I haven't had the 15 in a few years. 🥃
Blooburries
.
I'm happy to sip a high priced sherry bomb as long as long as I'm drinking at someone else's house. This is $110 for a 700ml in my market. That's a straight up "no" for me.
I have an unwritten, unspoken agreement with some of my scotch buddies. I'll happily share some of my priciest peaty, dirty, ex-bourbon barrel whiskies (which aren't their first choice), and they'll share some of their some of their pricey sherry bombs (which aren't my first choice). I'm OK with that, even though my buddies clearly get the better end of the deal. 🤣🤣🤣
I really thought theae were going to be totally worth acquiring. I have 2&3 and then 6. But then the recipe stayed the same. I also lost interest in sherry bombs.
Kinda interesting how BW went from the stability of Glendronach, with highly respected products to the controversy that is GlenAllachie.
Is he putting lipstick on a pig? Or is his skills at cask management creating magic?
Either way I can't keep up with the wood releases and these 10 year olds, it's to much and the prices are to high for me to stay involved in all his experimentations with the old stock, no matter how tempting they are.
A few more years and it will be all his distillate and we'll see what happens then.
Good points there. Like you said, there are too many releases to keep up with nowadays. I still do like this one, but I'm more likely to come back to it once in a while. I'll leave the batch-to-batch comparisons to others. Cheers. 🥃