Das Whisky Magazine veranstaltet jedes Jahr die Icons of Whisky Awards, und zwar jeweils in verschiedenen Whiskyregionen, darunter natürlich auch Schottland. Dort wurde nun die Destillerie Glenallachie, im Besitz von Billy Walker, zur Besucherattraktion des Jahres gewählt. Daneben gab es auch verschiedene Preise für die Whiskys von dort, wie die nachfolgende englischsprachige Presseaussendung detailliert:
The Glenallachie Distillery Wins Visitor Attraction of The Year
The Speyside distillery was crowned, along with multiple category wins for its products
After an extraordinary year of innovation and achievement, the Single Malt distillery lead by industry veteran Billy Walker won big at the Icons of Whisky and World Whiskies Awards for 2022.
The awards, both run by Whisky Magazine, “celebrate the best and brightest people and places in the sector” and “commend the best whiskies from around the world”.
Having beaten out all competition at last year’s ceremony to win World’s Best Single Malt, The GlenAllachie was named Visitor Attraction of the Year for 2022. The judging panel cited the overcoming of the adversity stemming from the pandemic as the main contributing factor to the bestowing of the title.
The distillery began offering revolutionary “virtual” tours from the safety of their on-site tasting room in May 2021. The experiences included an in-depth tour video, followed by a discussion with hand-made replicas of the various stages of the production process, and concluded with a tutored tasting of four drams presented in a complimentary keepsake bag with a Glencairn glass.
The company also excelled in the product awards, scooping category wins for The GlenAllachie 12-year-old in its age banding within the Speyside Single Malt group, and MacNair’s Lum Reek 12-year-old in the Blended Malts Under 12 years class.
In addition, The GlenAllachie 15-year-old picked up a gold medal at the esteemed awards, entered by hundreds of products.
Reflecting on the monumental wins, Walker states:
“I’m beyond delighted for the GlenAllachie team for securing such hotly contended accolades at these coveted Whisky Magazine awards. The past two years have been incredibly challenging for the entire industry, however I’ve been witness to the inspiring grit and determination of our team. These incredible awards are a testament to each and every one of them. I will be proudly raising a dram in admiration this Christmas.”
In early 2021, Walker was inducted to the Whisky Magazine’s prestigious Hall of Fame in recognition of his lasting contribution to the Scotch whisky industry.
ABOUT GLENALLACHIE:
One of Scotland’s few independently owned and managed distilleries, The GlenAllachie is led by industry veteran, Billy Walker, who boasts an almost 50-year tenure in whisky. With an emphasis on wood policy, The GlenAllachie’s cask budget for 2021 stands at an eye-watering £1m/$1.2m. With 16 on-site warehouses holding over 50,000 casks, we have complete control of the end-to-end maturation process.
The GlenAllachie focusses on quality over quantity, which is why we chose to reduce our production capacity from 4m to 500,000 Litres of Alcohol, and increase our fermentation period to 160 hours for an ester rich, fruity spirit.
We believe age and integrity matter, which is why all our whiskies carry an age statement, and are bottled at a minimum of 46% ABV, natural colour and non-chill filtered for maximum flavour experience.
Our other brands are MacNair’s Boutique House of Spirits, encompassing Lum Reek Blended Malt Scotch Whisky and Exploration Rum, and White Heather Blended Scotch Whisky.
Further information on the distillery and company can be found at www.theglenallachie.com
