
July 8, 2026

The Time Warp Sessions,
today Aberfeldy forty years later

Or almost… A session with a (perhaps) rather unexpected winner.

Aberfeldy 11 yo 2014/2026 (60%, Signatory Vintage, Cask Strength Collection, 1st fill oloroso, cask #4, 655 bottles)

Signatory continue to treat us to these young, heavily sherried whiskies, most of which have impressed us greatly over the past few years. Colour: dark red amber. Nose: liquorice, walnuts, maple syrup and toffee, all marching in perfect step. Mind the strength though, but the nose remains remarkably elegant, while the alcohol is rather very assertive too. With water: pure old-fashioned walnut wine, with plenty of oloroso naturally. We rather doubt it, yet we could almost believe this had come from a genuine solera cask. Mouth: this is glorious sherry, leaning more towards tobacco and leather, old walnuts, bitter orange liqueur, hazelnut cream and turrón. In short, it is downright sinful, only becoming a touch straighter later on thanks to a crack of black pepper. With water: it turns almost creamy, while pepper, cinnamon, caraway and turmeric keep everything firmly in check. Finish: long, with magnificent Italian-style bitters taking complete command. Then cocoa, aubergine and green walnuts. Comments: this is genuinely splendid, and a thoroughly convincing contender for this month's BFYB title. Mind you, the month has only just begun...
SGP:461 - 88 points.

Aberfeldy 1975/2002 (55.2%, Scotch Malt Whisky Society #60.25, ‘Apples and Menthol’, 184 bottles)

Weren't these the years when they started adding names and tasting descriptions to their bottlings, allowing us to slowly realise that the honourable SMWS were clearly enjoying a fair proportion of their own stocks themselves? You could say it all remained rather restrained back then, but things became considerably more ballistic afterwards. Much to our delight! Colour: gold. Nose: goodness gracious, mandarins in full glory! Alongside them, indeed, menthol and pine resin. In short, twenty-five years in bottle have turned the apples into citrus fruits while adding the sap of conifers. It all seems perfectly coherent to me, especially as this nose is simply magnificent. With water: it drifts a little towards papier-mâché and wash, but nothing that could seriously detract from this splendid nose. Mouth (neat): what a beauty, one of the finest Aberfeldies I have ever had the pleasure of tasting. Apple ice wine, then mandarins once again, bramble honey and lemon nougat. Everything is delivered with remarkable delicacy. I rather suspect there is already a fair amount of the good kind of OBE at work here. With water: a pity, it folds in on itself somewhat, with bitterness becoming a little too pronounced. One of those classic bad swimmers, thankfully they are not all that common. Finish: excellent without water, rather flat and faintly cardboardy on the palate once reduced. Comments: bad swimmer indeed, let's simply forget water this time. A shame, because it had started so magnificently, and it remains, of course, an excellent Aberfeldy.
SGP:451 - 87 points.

(Thansk as ever, KC)

Check the index of all Aberfeldy we've tasted

The Time Warp Sessions, today Aberfeldy forty years later

The Time Warp Sessions,
today Aberfeldy forty years later