In November 2018 The GlenAllachie distillery released a range of Lum Reek blended malts. It combines GlenAllachie spirit with peated Islay and Speyside malts. MacNair’s Lum Reek originally only included a 12 and 21-year aged whisky in the line-up, but since 2023 also a Lum Reek 10 Year Old Cask Strength.
In fact, this is already the second batch of this blended malt. Batch 2 still uses Islay, Speyside, and aged GlenAllachie malts, which come together in Spanish sherry casks, wine barriques & virgin oak casks.
MacNair’s Lum Reek 10 yo Cask Strength (55,8%, GlenAllachie Distillers 2023, Batch #2, peated)
Nose: rich, with plenty of salted fudge, mulled wine, dark caramel and cinnamon pastry. Then cigarette smoke and lacquered meat on the barbecue, with some earthy notes and mentholated hints. Blackberries, roasted apricot, milk chocolate and dark baked vanilla cookies.
Mouth: a lot of charred notes and dry ashes now, including some burnt herbs and burnt orange peels. Dark smoke. Nice chocolate, black peppercorn, caramelized nuts and hints of coffee. Slightly meaty and savoury towards the end – a bit more fruits would be welcome here.
Finish: long, on bittersweet herbs, some red wine tannins and ginger. Dark smoke.
This gives a deep peat boost, big enough to counter most of the red wine character. It shows a dry and tannic side at times, but overall it is well composed and a good option for an intense, affordable peat bomb. Available from Master of Malt (now discounted) or The Whisky Exchange for instance.