Allt-A-Bhainne 2009 PX Murray McDavid Review

Hi everyone,

We don’t see much Allt-A-Bhainne about but there’s been a bit of a fanfare recently concerning the arrival of an OB. Dave Broom wrote a pretty scathing article about it actually.

This isn’t an OB though, this is an IB brought to us by the lovely people at Murray McDavid, the indie that loves to finish whiskies in weird wine casks (that’s how I think of them anyway). Also, you can’t miss their garish packaging.

This one was an exclusive for the Speyside Whisky Festival 2018 back in May but they had a bottle at the Liverpool Whisky Lounge I happened to also be at.

 

Allt-A-Bhainne 2009 Murray McDavid 62.1%

Colour: Amber

Body: Medium/Full

Nose: All about the cask but what a cask! Meaty, juicy and fruity PX, Sherry all over, creamy vanilla, orange, bright cherry, very slightly sulphury (in a good way).

Water: The abv pokes through, sharp.

More water: Ah, better! Back to meaty, slightly sulphury territory, very nice.

Taste: Soft and light at 62%! Cherry and an explosion of orange, creamy mouthfeel with vanilla.

Water: A little spicier, a bit more complexity too.

Finish: Medium length. Soft orange, some juicy/meaty Sherry left over.

An exclusive for the Speyside Whisky Festival 2018. PX Sherry finish. Very good at only 8 years old. And I think the price was pretty reasonable.

76/100

Thanks for reading!

Updated Distillery Rankings

Scotch Review #673

Whisky Network Review #807

Network Average: 75.1

Best Score: 94

Worst Score: 12

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as a Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and I am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and I am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Why is this here?

3 Pale Ones: Braevil, Allt-a-Bhainne & Aultmore Reviews

Hello again everyone,

Still on the explore to taste whiskies from all the distilleries in Scotland I bought some samples of Master of Malt's own bottlings, because they are always a little bit cheaper than other samples.

So I've got 3 today, all very pale, probably young whiskies from distilleries I've never tried.

First up Braevil or Braes of Glenlivet.

Braes o' Glenlivet That Boutique-y Whisky Company Batch 1 47.2%

Colour: Light Gold

Body: Medium

Nose: Immediately intensely floral. Bath bombs, lavender, daffodils, pollen, dried flowers, washing powder, clean clothes, vanilla pods, dry grass, dry oak.

Water: Milk chocolate.

Taste: Intense. Sweet and floral. Juicy to start. Quite dry too, becoming even more dry with classic pear and green apple, some prickling oak building.

Water: Softer and more drying.

Finish: Medium length. A little prickling oak and sour under ripe pear.

Notes: A more floral Bladnoch, quite Lowland.

71/100

Definitely the best of these three although not exactly amazing. Almost quite soapy at points.

Allt-A-Bhainne That Boutique-y Whisky Company Batch 1 49.2%

Colour: Straw

Body: Medium

Nose: Gin. How is this NOT Gin?! Aromatic botanicals, juniper berries, dried orange peel, dried lemon peel, cucumber, tonic, orris root, angelica root, liquorice root.

Water: More gin. Was this in a gin barrel??

Taste: Gin. Aromatic botanicals, all the above, some oak, vanilla, some burnt toffee. Building dry oak.

Water: Softer. More juniper berry.

Finish: Medium/Long length. Dark chocolate and mocha, but a bit of unpleasant bitter tannin.

Notes: Pretty sure Master of Malt sent me a gin sample by accident... Shame I don't like Gin!

66/100

Gin is the Bhainne of my life! Eh? Eh? Oh forget it!

Aultmore 5yo Master of Malt Single Cask 65.4%

Colour: Pale straw

Body: Medium

Nose: Very light. The high alcohol doesn't feel much. Toffee, fudge, some milk chocolate.

Water: More alcohol. More water: Lemon.

Taste: Intense. Alcohol, toffee, fudge, vanilla, some milk chocolate, some herbal, green tea, then a little oak and more chocolate into the finish.

Water: Softer but also intense. Intense toffee and fudge, vanilla, white grape.

Finish: Short length. Lots of milk chocolate.

Notes: Young and intense but lacking any sort of complexity.

67/100

Proves that high Abv does not mean high intensity or lots of flavour.

Reviews #68-#70

Network Average: 78.3

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent