Kategoriarkiv: Aberlour

Aberlour, Speyside

Aberlour A’Bunadh Batch 072

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ABV: 59.1 %
Origin: Speyside
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 1
Impression: 3/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and fruity. At first there’s a mix of sweet vanilla and red berry fruitiness surrounded by a fresh sawdust oakiness. There’s a nail polish remover sharpness floating around which really doesn’t match the other flavours. Underneath there’s a darker, more ripe plum and raisin note with leather, black liquorice and just a tiny hint of sulfur. When it settles in the glass it gets a bit more balanced and cohesive, but it basically stays the same way throughout and its main focus lies on the vanilla note. This is a nice nose, but it is a bit boring. It’s a lot of sherry, but it feels a bit forced to be a sherry bomb, instead of it naturally happening over time.

Mouth: It starts out with a hefty spicyness and a quite different character than on the nose. It’s dark and nowhere near as sweet as on the nose except for a thin sweet layer coating the front of the palate.. There are raisins, overripe plums, espresso, dark chocolate all pushing through to create a quite interesting sherry experience which more fits the premisses. There’s a black liquorice note surrounding everything else. This is not an easy access profile, but it’s quite fantastic at this point. After a few seconds the fresh oakiness starts to slightly break through and it sort of destroys the fun.

Finish: The transition starts with the oakiness and a floating coconut note before the sherry character once again pushes through. It has shifted again towards the sweeter flavours and now there’s a thin butterscotch note coming through together with the vanilla. The darker notes are still around, but are residing a bit further back. This includes dark chocolate and black liquorice which are the main flavours in the back. It doesn’t take long for the annoying oakiness to arrive and it soon outmanouvers the heavy sherry notes. It’s still a fresh sawdust oakiness which really doesn’t fit the rest of the character. This is a weird sherry bomb whisky. It really doesn’t feel genuine. It still is a decent dram though.

Additional information
This whisky was aged in first fill spanish ex-Oloroso sherry butts for an undisclosed amount of time. It’s unchillfiltered.

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Aberlour, Speyside

Aberlour – 12 YO Double Cask

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ABV: 40 %
Origin: Speyside
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 1
Impression: 3/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and fruity. At first, vanilla and red berries rub shoulders in the center. It’s a very fresh fruitiness with raspberries, cherries and a laid back lemon sourness. In their surroundings there are notes of anise, liquorice and honey. In the background there’s just a touch of baking spices. This is easy to nose and the different cask types are easily detected.

Mouth: It starts out extremely soft and mild. After a few second the vanilla and honey come through. The fruitiness is not as pronounced as on the nose and it’s a slightly darker ripe fruitiness. There’s not much left of the anise and liquorice, but they are detectable around the edges. The oak shines through after a few seconds, and it comes off a bit perfumey.

Finish: The fruitiness changes once again and the first thing to appear is a nice note of gooseberries. The vanilla and honey are still in there, but they just act as fillers. The oakiness is still perfumey, and it feels like fresh oak. In the late finish the sour lemon note reappears. It’s not a long finish. Overall this is a low impact, sweet desserty kind of whisky. It feels like it’s missing a red thread and it’s not complex at all. It’s still quite tasty and this ought to be a good beginner’s dram.

Additional information
Aberlour is owned by Chivas Regal. This 12 YO is double cask matured, which means that it’s matured in ”traditional” ex-bourbon barrels and ex-sherry casks. The traditional part often means ”refill”.