SMWS #108 Allt-A-Bhainne| 63% ABV

Something From The Burn Of Milk

There isn’t much to say about Allt-A-Bhainne. Goodness knows we’ve tried over the years to jazz up its brief existence and bring some drama to proceedings. Even the Eastenders scriptwriting team would fail to create some excitement around its legacy. A new-ish arrival on the scene compared to the bigger Speyside names is almost entirely focused on blending product, and has existed below the radar of many since its foundation by Seagram’s in 1975.

The distillery is a particularly odd-looking thing. Coming across as a mix of 1970s council buildings, nursing homes and Chernobyl leftovers. Not being open to the public just adds to the mystery as you drive by the site and try to pronounce its name without losing concentration on the road ahead. The general consensus is that you pronounce it Ollt-err-Vane, which in Gaelic means Burn of milk, after a nearby river.

The name and its pronunciation add to the air of mystique that surrounds this Speyside outpost near Glenrinnes. This was shattered a little when in 2018 Pernod Ricard announced a single malt with the intention of ‘shaking up the genre’ by offering a mix of Speyside meadow fruits and peat smoke. In fact, a peated distillate has been produced at Allt-A-Bhainne for some time now and goes towards the blending needs of its owner. Bottled at 40%, it felt underpowered, young and somewhat lacking in the flavour department. From memory, I scored it a 2 somewhere else, noting that “flavour has been sacrificed for the bottom line. - and the bottom line here is that this Allt-A-Bhainne is just garbage.” Harsh words at the time perhaps, but time has confirmed the whisky wasn’t up to much at all.  

In summary, it was a poor decision from Pernod looking back now, as almost every other distillery was offering a peated variant of some sort. This resulted in a saturated market and the common consumer belief if you like peat, then you pick up something from Islay.

Allt-A-Bhainne failed to shake up the market and its original price (around £40 for a non age statement) seemed a reach for a distillery only a small proportion of drinkers were aware of. Even looking online as part of this article, it seems to be out of stock at most stores and the official website hasn’t been updated since 2018. A couple of independent retailers I discussed the release with a couple of years ago weren’t impressed and it was proving to be a hard sell.   

However, there is a small but merry band of enthusiasts who do appreciate Allt-A-Bhainne and their fix comes from the growing independent market. The Scotch Malt Whisky Society is particularly worthy of mentioning as they continue to bottle the distillery on a regular basis. There are flaws in their commercial model, but the range of distilleries they continue to bottle is admirable compared to other indies. Fans of Allt-A-Bhainne have been well served by a variety of age statements as well.

Review

SWMS 108.45 Campfire Contentment Allt-A-Bhainne, 63% ABV
Sold Out

This specific Allt-A-Bhainne was distilled on 19th March 2012 and bottled at 9 years of age from a 2nd fill ex-bourbon cask. An outturn of 205 bottles were extracted at 63%, and this would have cost you £48.40 upon release.

Nose

We’re greeted by smoked apples, limescale and a dash of malt vinegar. Vanilla, honey and icing sugar. Kindling provides a touch of earthiness, grapefruit and a gammon steak with some pineapple. Adding water reveals a little more fruitiness followed by pears and pineapple.

Palate

Quelled exhaust fumes, dying embers and some green apples. Black peppercorns and bark, this is dominated by the smoke aspect on the palate. Try some water to shake things up, and it does reveal a nuttiness and old rope, but no hidden layers.

The Dregs

The nose is ok, but the palate is youthful and fairly one dimensional. In its defence, the whisky isn’t fiery despite its high strength. It’s well made and you can appreciate that a blender would use this to add smokiness to a creation without having to worry about it bringing unseen flavours. As a construct, it does what it’s meant to, but as a single cask bottling? That’s up for debate.

This release is what we’d label in SMWS circles as being filler. The harsh reality of releasing 25-30 casks per month to an eager membership is a difficult ask 12 times of the year – never mind the odd specials in-between or themed exclusives. Not every bottle can be a winner and some will be there perhaps to offer a twist, a lower price or blast of peat. That’s what we have here and even though it’s priced just below £50, I know there are better whiskies out there for this price or less. It also lacks the funky aspect that a peated distillate can bring to a normally unpeated distillery, such as Glenturret.

My thanks to a neighbour for the opportunity to try this bottling and frankly I’m glad I didn’t purchase it myself!

Score: 4/10

Our thanks to the SMWS for the image.

Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. DM