Whisky legend Billy Walker about 50 years of distilling and the future of The GlenAllachie

[Advertorial] The GlenAllachie is one of the few independently run distilleries in Scotland. The whisky production is managed by Billy Walker, who can look back on over half a century of experience in the industry. In the production of The GlenAllachie, the focus is on around 50,000 different casks, which are used to mature balanced single malts in 16 warehouses. All whiskies have an age statement, are bottled at a minimum of 46% by volume with natural color and without chill filtration.

In this interview, Billy Walker talks about his beginnings in the whisky industry, the development of The GlenAllachie and his vision for the future of the brand.

Billy, your name has been synonymous with expertise and highly esteemed distilling skills in the whisky industry for over 50 years. Take us back to the beginning: How, where and when did your love of whisky originate?

Billy Walker: When I was young, I lived in a whisky town named Dumbarton, known for its local distillery run by the Canadian company Hiram Walker, owning and producing multiple Brands like Ballantine’s. Plus Littlemill, Achentoshan and Loch Lomond were in proximity. Moreover, J&B, McGavigan and Newton Bond all had a presence. So, there was a natural connection with the Scotch whisky industry.

How did this love and understanding of whisky develop further over the years? What role does whisky play in your life?

Billy Walker: I was fortunate to work for Hiram Walker in 1972 after a five-year stint as a pharmaceutical chemist. The company gave me a huge amount of freedom to get involved in all areas of the business: yeast bubbles, grain- and malt production, blending, warehousing and bottling. This was the start of my personal fascination for scotch whisky particularly the art of blending. Subsequent roles with InverHouse, Burn Stewart and other distilleries only continued to create and motivate my fascination for whisky and relationship with the category.

You have worked for some well-known and successful distilleries with popular brands, building them up and making them big. You also owned distilleries, yourself, before you started with The GlenAllachie. Tell us about how all of this came about.

Billy Walker: My periods with InverHouse, starting 1976, and Burn Stewart, starting 1982, were particularly creative developing Blended Scotch. At InverHouse like these were Macarthur´s, Green Plaid, Pinwinnie, Glen Flagler and Baldnoch and at Burn Stewart it was the brand Scottish Leader. This company also gave me the opportunity to resuscitate Deanston and Tobermory distilleries. But eventually the company was sold, leaving me to consider my next move: I bought the Benriach Distillery – together with business partners, an independent consortium.

Plus, the strong relationship I had built with Chivas brought about the next opportunity: buying the Glendronach distillery. Between 2008 and 2016, I was intently focused on moving the brand back to a significantly sherried style of whisky. In 2013, another option came up, this time to purchase Glenglassaugh distillery, which I was keen to get because of its costal location and more maritime spirit style.

So why did you and your business partners then decide to sell Benriach, Glendronach and Glenglassaugh and acquire The GlenAllachie?

Billy Walker: The time running Benriach, Glendronach and Glenglassaugh was an incredible 12-year journey. The excitement of creating and defining the personality of the distilleries was such an exciting process. The sale of these distilleries in 2016 was a wrench to me personally because, in my opinion, “the journey of perfection” had still some miles to run.

The acquisition of The GlenAllachie Distillery was the next step and a real challenge: My team and I had to define and create a personality for a distillery that had been operating under the radar since its inception. In a sense, this made this new journey easier, since there was no prehistory to build on.

What did the brand stand for before the acquisition and what does it stand for now? How did you develop it further?

Billy Walker: I am convinced that we have achieved almost all the goals we had for the quality of the brand, but we will strive for more perfection. GlenAllachie is now recognised and positioned globally and is still perceived as a rather small quality brand. We will continue to push the quality of our whiskies even further with the knowledge of wood management that I have gained over the last 50 years.

What are the special features of The GlenAllachie?

Billy Walker: Since the seven years of my ownership, I continue to demonstrate my hands-on approach and experimental wood management policy. The brand is today recognized as a bold sherry style single malt.

What products does the portfolio include? What are the core products?

Billy Walker: In addition to the award-winning standards such as The GlenAllachie 10 y.o., The GlenAllachie 12 y.o., The GlenAllachie 15 y.o. from Pedro Ximénez and Oloroso sherry casks and the opulent The GlenAllachie 18 y.o., our Core Range also includes older bottlings: 21 y.o., 25 y.o., 30 y.o. and 35 y.o. We also have several special releases based on unique or different cask styles and oak genus. These are The Virgin Oak Series, The Sherry Series, The Fortified Wine Series and The Wine Series.

A 35-year-old GlenAllachie just got launched. Tell us about it!

Billy Walker: It is always very intriguing to work with old whiskies and to capture the unique flavours which evolve during long-term maturation. The 35 y.o. is a mix of three PX casks, two virgin oak casks and one oloroso cask. We have used our experience to capture the anticipated flavour matrix from the various casks. The PX has notes of Christmas cake, ripe cherries, treacle, raspberries, chocolate, and almonds. From the oloroso casks we get espresso, dark chocolate, raisons, treacle, coconut, cinnamon, and cloves. Virgin oak brings in flavours of honey, butterscotch, vanilla, cinnamon, cardamom, and orange peel.

What role does the German market play for The GlenAllachie? Who do you work with in distribution?

Billy Walker: The German market is the most influential Single Malt market in Europe. The consumer is knowledgeable, interested, and inquisitive. Our distributor is Kirsch Import.

What plans do you have for The GlenAllachie, but also for yourself personally?

Billy Walker: Our plans for The GlenAllachie are to continue to develop and grow the brand and to go beyond ourselves in terms of our quality objectives for the brand. Personally, I will continue to bring the experience of The GlenAllachie to a growing and expanding global audience.

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+++ We would like to thank Billy Walker for the open and very interesting interview! If you also have an interesting brand, then we should talk. Just send us an e-mail with the subject “about-drinks interview” to redaktion@about-drinks.com – we look forward to hearing from you! +++