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| Hi, this is one of our (almost) daily tastings. Santé! |
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March 28, 2023 |
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Aberlour of the hour
No, not particularly proud of that headline either, but at least we now know that ChatGPT wouldn't have done any better. Aberlour is another favourite of mine and luckily, the Distillery has released quite a few new ones. Let's try a wee bunch but first, a little apéritif…
(Picture, Malt Maniacs Craig, Davin and Krishna filling our own bottle at Aberlour Distillery in 2002)
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Aberlour 2010/2020 'White Oak' (40%, OB, France) 
Matured in American white oak casks and done for France, even the label is in French mind you. Now I remember the 2009/2019 had been pretty difficult, with a very dominant oak. Let's do this one quickly then. Colour: gold. Nose: no, they improved it a lot. A lot of cornflakes, vanilla pods, scones and shortbread, young bourbon, dandelions, pancake sauce… I'm very positively surprised. Mouth: incredibly cakey, soft, on fudge and panettone, apple crumble, biscuits, more shortbread, more cornflakes (ours is Golden Grahams), popcorn, a little tea… Finish: a little short but clean and cakey, with good honey then. Génoise, sponge-cake… Comments: phew, one of the little pleasures of life. And I forgot to mention white chocolate. Eminently drinkable and in this context, the 40% pose no problem.
SGP:551 - 85 points. |
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Aberlour 18 yo 'Double Sherry Cask Finish batch No.001' (43%, OB, , +/-2023)
This one's very new and looks like the finishing craze stroke again. I tried the earlier 18 only in January this year but liked it a lot (WF 86) even if it was wounded by some original sin as they had done it at 50cl. This new one, at 70cl, has been finished twice, although I couldn't tell you whether that was simultaneously or successively. Classic set-up anyway, PX + oloroso. Colour: amber with orange hues. Orange hues suggest spirit caramel but I doubt they would have done that here. Nose: gentle, with more sherry than in the white oak, naturally. Although the vast majority of sherry casks are white oak too, it has to be said. Some cognac, many raisins, bags of dried goji berries, figs and dates, a little orange juice, zwetschke tart, clootie dumpling, treacle toffee pudding… Very clean, absolutely lovely, but as we all know, with these profiles it'll happen – or not - on the palate. Mouth: so easy. Aberlour's fruitiness, more zwetschke, preserved peaches in abundance, blood oranges, apricots, raisins, chocolate liqueur, fudge, a touch of lemon to keep it fresh and lively… Finish: medium, citrusy, fresher and brighter. Allegro. Millionaire shortbread in the aftertaste. Comments: this one's extremely dangerous. Never pour more than 2cl in your glass at any time, and never refill before your (or your guests') glass is totally empty, or you won't control anything.
SGP:641 - 87 points. |
A few A'bunadhs that we haven't tried… |
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Aberlour 'A'bunadh batch #67' (59.8%, OB, Spanish oloroso butts, 2020)
We'll never manage to try them in order, we've already tasted the very good, subsequent batch #69 back in 2021 (WF 86). Typical French bordel. Colour: gold. They've got much lighter in colour than earlier batches. Nose: some rather delicate sherry, as the colour suggested, some metal polish, even some soot, then fresh plums (damsons) and cigarette tobacco, plus wee whiffs of brand new wellies. With water: a lot of chocolate, greengage jam, and more chocolate yet. Mouth (neat): super-good, sweeter and more liqueury than other batches (triple-sec, mandarine), then literally invaded by chocolate and 'soft' rubber. Other than that, more tobacco and more old walnuts from the sherry. With water: tops. Some mint and other herbs, even a drop of green chartreuse. No, any chartreuse, let's not push the envelope. Finish: the mint keep it fresh, if not refreshing. Liquorice. Lovely citrus in the aftertaste. Comments: great batch of A'bunadh 'sherry', sweeter and easier than #69. And than #66. There are othr kinds of A'bunadh but let's be patient…
SGP:551 - 87 points. |
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Aberlour 'A'bunadh batch #71' (61.5%, OB, Spanish oloroso butts, 2021) 
How many batches do they do per year? Three? Four? Colour: pale gold (lighter than #67). Nose: less classic sherry, more greener walnuts, hay, herbs, sesame oil, herbal tea… It's almost as if they had refilled some butts with this batch, but I'm not saying this is not a style that I enjoy as well, on the contrary. But it is a little strong… With water: hold on, wax? Lemons? White asparagus? Like this a lot, but I wouldn't have said 'A'bunadh'. I suppose that's the whole point of doing batch bottlings… Mouth (neat): very good, really tight, grassy, tart, almost acidic, with a lot of concentrated lemon juice. It's hard to believe this was sherry, unless it was fino or manzanilla. But the walnuts give it away. With water: closer to #67 but still tighter, brighter yet, zestier… Inadvertently biting into some grapefruit (late in the night and after a few drams too many, obviously). Finish: terrific, zesty, even refreshing. I promise I won't mention Sancerre again (tsk-tsk). Comments: A'bunadh aficionados will find this one a little deviant – A'bunadhs ought to be sherry monsters, right. I'll beg to differ, I love this zestier style, despite the touches of pineapple that I found later on.
SGP:561 - 88 points. |
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Aberlour 'A'bunadh batch #75' (60.9%, OB, Spanish oloroso butts, 2022) 
We're still in 2022, we'll never manage to catch up I'm afraid. Colour: full gold this time. Nose: back to… chocolate. I mean, cocoa. But it's begging for water this time, happy to oblige. With water: a little metallic, a little muddy, more on grist this time, barley, chocolate, bread, walnuts as usual… Some kind of amontillado of A'bunadh, perhaps. I'm wondering if this batch hasn't been caught between two stools, so to speak. Mouth (neat): huge, grassier, kind of dirtier (but if it's not a little dirty it's not malt whisky, right?) and a little brutal. So… With water: butterscotch, liquorice, tea, plus something clearly grassier and more rustic. Finish: long, malty, raw and rough. Comments: the others were rather high-definition A'bunadhs, while this one is rather more, yeah, robust and rustic. For your hipflask! (the one bearing skull and bones – or a made-up Celtic motif).
SGP:561 - 84 points. |
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Aberlour 'A'bunadh Alba batch #007' (58.9%, OB, +/-2023)
James Bond's own batch. I've only ever tried Alba once, I think it was the first batch, and thought it was excellent (WF 86). Now I've already informally tried this new batch - with great food- and thought 'wow!' This is fully ex-bourbon oak, hence the name 'Alba'. Colour: white wine. Nose: it's also a good option to keep your distillate as clean and naked as possible when it's first-class. Terrific apples, gooseberries, green pears, kiwis, greengages, white cherries, green bananas… However, it would never move towards easy Haribo-like notes. They know how to stand. With water: viognier. I'm sorry I'm mentioning wine pretty often, but either I write 'viognier', or I'll need to list dozens of aromas, starting with white pineapple, guava… No, enough! Mouth (neat): superb, incredibly fruity, dead on target, with pears and grapefruits. Perfect with fruity desert, yes I speak from experience. With water: sure it's simple, even very simple, even very, very simple, but this immense fruitiness is irresistible. Finish: medium, ueber-fruity, with even a little varnish. Comments: a fruit bomb. And who cares if it was made in a lab (which it was not, of course). In truth this is very Aberlour, many ueber-fruity malts would be geared toward tropical/exotic fruits (do you really need names?) but in my book, only two of them are fully 'western-orchardy'. Both belong to Pernod, they are Longmorn and… Aberlour.
SGP:741 - 87 points. |
A last one please… and back to age statements! (because even when good, NAS sucks, right…) |
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Aberlour 21 yo 1998/2023 (48.1%, OB, for The Whisky Lodge Lyon , 2nd fill American oak barrel, cask #17769, 84 bottles)
I know the numbers don't add-up, but who cares, especially when we have both good age and proper refill on the tasting desk. Frankly, first fill or, even worse, virgin, are mega-tiring. Colour: white wine. Nose: olives, mezcal and Jamaican rum, in infinitesimal amounts. Otherwise waxes of all kinds (sunflower first) and root vegetables, white teas, subtle herbs, some fresh croissant (this is another French bottling after all), plus marzipan and Mozartkugeln (Lyon to Salzburg, that's only 865km and a 9h15 drive – rather 47h45 with a Tesla – no, of course not). Mouth: class Aberlour. Small white berries, elderberry eau-de vie, gooseberries, a little paraffin, many herbs, fruit and vegetable peel, holly, lime, granny smith… Finish: long, fatter, waxier yet. Comments: I would recommend pouring this chilled, with good caviar or gravlax. It's a fabtastic naked Aberlour, too bad there are only 84 bottles (probably none left at time of writing). Life isn't fair.
SGP:551 - 89 points. |
It's sad that we'll probably never manage to try all the A'bunadhs, but I think we'll get over it. |
(Thank you Pierre and team!) |
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