Billy is back; Glenallachie Distillery. Billy Walker, the main man behind the revival of GlenDronach, and Distilleries. In 2004, Billy and two other investors purchased BenRiach Distillery under their BenRiach Distillery Company. 2008 came along and they purchased The GlenDronach Distillery. Finally in 2013, Glenglassaugh Distillery added. Now as you well know these distilleries, and GlenDronach in particular, have established themselves solidly among the whisky elite. GlenDronach Distillery’s reputation as a sherry cask matured whisky producer with the highly acclaimed and sought after Single Cask releases has soared in the past 5 year or so. Also, with American company Brown-Forman stepping in with a tasty £285m offer in 2016, the figures show the level Billy and his team reached with their whisky production. But what next?
Billy Walker and Glenallachie Distillery
For these 3 distilleries, life will go on. But what route they go down remains to be seen. And with a smaller release of single casks vintages in the latest batch (#15) in May this year, are they heading down a different, more brand led path with GlenDronach? Who knows. However, last week brought exciting news. Billy and a small consortium purchased Glenallachie Distillery from Chivas Brothers; the Scotch Whisky arm of the gigantic French Pernod Ricard drinks company. There had been a rumour in the air that Billy was keen for a new project but few would have guessed on Glenallachie Distillery. Built in 1967 this is a relatively new Scottish whisky distillery and has a less than glamorous history. Mothballed for half the 1980s, in 1989 it restarted and the number of stills doubled to 4, to meet the the demand for blended whisky. This is not a renowned single malt whisky distillery. It’s history is largely as a factory of production. With Billy Walker now at Glenallachie, its future looks bright and very interesting.
Putting Glenallachie on the Whisky Map
Let’s start literally. Glenallachie Distillery has plenty going in its favour. It’s a Speysider to start with. With the River Spey flowing near by, illustrious ‘neighbours’ include Macallan, Aberlour, and to name but a few. It sits well on the literal whisky map and it’s a good looking distillery. The benefit of purchasing a distillery with a focus on blended whisky, is that plenty of stock will have been laid down. There is probably a solid volume of casks already sleeping and maturing of various vintages and ages. No doubt some hidden gems in the warehouses too. The single malt whisky is already regarded as very good. Although very there are very few official single malt releases, they are well regarded along with the independent bottlings, are well received. Gordon & Macphail’s Connoisseur’s Choice, Cadenhead’s Small Batch, Signatory Vintage and the recent North Star Spirits. These are some of the recent Glenallachie’s from the Indy Bottlers in Scotland that have hit the market giving access to the character of this whisky. Now though, we can look forward to more.
What’s in Store for Glenallachie Whisky…
Well firstly, we don’t really know. Sorry, no exclusive here. However, given Billy’s track record with GlenDronach, BenRiach and Glenglassaugh we can expect the new owners to draw the very best from the casks and stills at Glenallachie. No doubt there will be single cask releases. These are what have made GlenDronach in particular so popular and in huge demand in recent years. Sherry Casks too? We can imagine so. With connections to the whisky and drinks industry the world over, it’s maybe inevitable they will be able to source some lovely sherry casks in no time. But regardless of all of this, we can expect to see Glenallachie to start appearing on the mainstream whisky map. There will doubtless be excellent whisky produced. A whisky business run properly. Scottish owned, Scottish based; a wholly Scottish independent whisky company. This is right up our street. We can’t wait.
