We recently had the greatest pleasure of talking to one of the legends of the whisky industry, Billy Walker. Billy has been in the Scotch Whisky industry for 50 years and throughout his time in it has gained many awards including Master Distiller/Blender of the Year at the World Whisky Awards as well as being inducted into Whisky Magazine’s Hall of Fame in 2020!
Billy grew up in the whisky town of Dumbarton and having developed an interest in making whisky at a young age he went to The University of Glasgow and studied Chemistry gaining a BSc Honours Degree in 1967. It is this chemistry background that Billy has always said stood him in great stead along his whisky making career, and his advice to anyone wanting to make whisky is that having a background in chemistry would be very useful.
Billy’s huge enthusiasm for whisky was evident when he told us “The blending side of the business is unquestionably the most exciting part for me. It encompasses looking at what you have at the start of the journey and using experience to decide what needs to happen to a whisky to get it into that sweet spot such as which casks to place it in, or which casks to finish it in. That’s the most enjoyable side of the business for me”.
As for his favourite thing about the industry, he replied, “There is one thing I will say about this industry, and it may not be my favourite thing, but it is important. While we are competition (for each other), we are friendly competition, we will help each other out. There is no great envy or secrecy about who we are and what we are doing, and we will help each other out in certain circumstances which perhaps wouldn’t happen in other industries”.
We congratulate Billy on his fifty years and can’t wait to see what he produces next. Here are some of his favourite bottles from the GlenAllachie range:
What is the Best Bottle of Whisky for Newbies?
‘If you’re dipping your toe in the water, the 8 year old and the 12 year old are great. These two whiskies give an introduction to the style and the flavour experience that represents the real flavour and personality of GlenAllachie.’
GlenAllachie 12 Year Old
Size: 700ml
ABV: 46%
Find here: £47.95
GlenAllachie 8 Year Old
Size: 700ml
ABV: 46%
Find here: £42.44
What is the Best Bottle of Fruity Whisky?
Billy told us ‘From the start we wanted the whisky to be a sherry style whisky which delivers flavour characteristics such as mocha, chocolate, vanilla, Christmas cake and so on, but in terms of a fruity whisky I would say the Port finish or Marsala finish releases. All of these are different styles but they are wonderfully fruity experiences.’
GlenAllachie 12 Year Old Ruby Port Wood Finish
Size: 700ml
ABV: 48%
Find here: £62.99
What is the Best Bottle of Smoky Whisky?
‘The one I would go for in the range at the moment is the Lum Reek 10 year old Cask Strength. It’s not too peaty and has lots of fruity flavours too. Our journey isn’t finished here as I have been looking at and spending time with these casks and there will be some really, really nice peated expressions coming out in the future.’
Lum Reek 10 Year Old Cask Strength
Size: 700ml
ABV: 55.4%
Find here: £69.99
What is the Best Bottle from the GlenAllachie Range for Those Who Want to Splash Out?
‘The single cask range is always good to look out for, but in the near future, a very nice release with a mizunara cask twist is coming. That would be a good call. Also, If you were lucky enough to be in the visitor centre in the last few weeks, there was a sherry cask release which was transferred into a peated cask which was delicious.’
GlenAllachie Billy Walker 50th Anniversary Mizunara Virgin Oak Finish
Unfortunately, this has now sold out but more single casks are coming soon!
What is the Best Wine Finished Whisky?
‘I’ve done quite a few of these, I have to say, and we’re continuing to do a lot of interesting work with wine casks. It’s a tough choice, but it would be between a Sauternes cask release and a Grattamacco cask release. It’s hard to choose between the two but the Sauternes release has lots of sweet fresh fruits and is wonderfully well balanced.’
GlenAllachie 12 Year Old Sauternes Finish
Size: 700ml
ABV: 48%
Find here: £59.95
What is the Best Virgin Oak Whisky?
‘We have used many virgin oak casks. We’ve looked at Ozark, Chinquapin, Japanese Mizunara, French, Spanish and Scottish oak. My initial favourite was Chinquapin, which as well as the usual notes of honey, vanilla and butterscotch has a hint of anise and liquorice in the background. But the one that I really love is the Scottish Virgin Oak. Some was bottled quite recently but it is hard to get your hands on. The wood is difficult to work with, the coopers hate working with it because it is complicated and has lots of knots but once the whisky is in it and it has been given two to three years it’s terrific.’
GlenAllachie 10 Year Old Chinquapin Virgin Oak Finish
Size: 700ml
ABV: 48%
Find here: £61.50
And our final question…
What is your favourite whisky from the whole GlenAllachie Range?
‘That’s difficult to answer. It would have to be the 15 year old, but it would have good competition from the 21 year old. It’s the whisky that I spend a lot of time engaging with... and drinking!’
GlenAllachie 15 Year Old
Size: 700ml
ABV: 46%
Find here: £66.95
With those last tempting words from Billy, we leave him to his work of creating some of the most magical drams around and wish him all the best for all the further years of distilling, blending and keeping our palates excited and souls warmed.
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