Aberlour A'bunadh NAS 60.5% OB #31
I have treasured some of the older batches of the a'bunadh. Let's see what the third most recent has to offer. Smells spirity and sweet, all on oloroso with hints of some floral and port wine notes, a bit dry. The taste is sulphury and dry more than anything else, I'd love to say this is another amazing bottling from this series, but unfortunately it doesn't cover the fact that it is probably bottled a bit too young, and the spirit isn't potent enough to carry such strength. A sulphur-bomb.
Pour at start of session, enjoy as last drink, needs time: 4
Aberlour A'bunadh NAS 59.9% OB batch#19
I've been a fan of this series for quite a while as I find that Aberlour distillery have proved that they can put a lot of effort and creating many batches of a cask strength series while still producing very good aged whiskies like the 18yo and the pretty new 16yo. I believe this could be an indicator that not so much of older stock goes into the whisky as at some other distilleries like Ardbeg among others. Not as dark as the recent batches, the nose is all very powerful, some burnt notes, phenolic, lots of alcohol, needs water. Water brings some dry spiced notes and dry blue cheese.
A surprisingly bland A'bunadh: 5
Aberlour NAS 60.4% OB A'bunadh batch#25
I believe Aberlour now reached batch#33 in this much demanded series. The ones discussing batches and so on seems to often stand apart when it comes which batch are the best. I guess the proof is in the taste for each individual. The smell is all on rubber notes. The taste dry, peppery, more bitter than usually an Oloroso finished speysider would be, tannins, lots of tannins, needs some water. Wate does good here, it gets a nice taste of stearic, prunes, oily, olives, toast, phenol and coffee. Water takes this one from mediocre to marvellous.
A winner when diluted: 7.5
Aberlour NAS 59.9% OB A'bunadh batch#29
I've also got batch#30 and 31 of the A'bunadh, but I've still not been able to try any A'bunadh so far. This one I traded from a fellow whisky connoisseur a bit further north-west in Norway. I believe that all A'bunadhs comes from fresh oloroso sherry casks. A very dark whisky, smells lovely, very sweet, a dessert malt? I can see this poured onto vanilla ice cream. The taste is phenolic and burnt, cinnamon, herbs and dark chocolate roams around in the background. This high %abv with decent dryness makes me think it needs a wee drop of water. Water creates a rounder flavour, but the initial sweetness never shows.
A gentle Aberlour expression, very nice: 7.5
Aberlour 14yo 1996-2010 63.2% OB cask#2871
A sample I've purchased online, supposedly handfilled at the distillery from a bourbon cask. Anyway, a bourbon-matured 60+%abv Aberlour isn't your everyday dram. The nose is spirity, but with lots of vanilla, very much, but a bit restrained sweetness. The taste is concentrated vanilla, blackberries and very minty. Good, but at this strength it needs a small drop of water. Now diluted, it's still very thick and sweet. Bananas and vanilla, banana split? The aftertaste is long and sweet, still some vanilla going on and some fruity notes. Milkshake and fruit gum?
Dessert malt: 7
Aberlour 19yo 1970-1990 46% Signatory Vintage cask#236-239 btl.504/2400
My oldest Aberlour so far, I guess it will be interesting to see how their malt were 40 years back. The nose is round, stiff, sort of waxy and a bit sour. The taste is far more peppery than the younger versions. I do enjoy this a lot. It's sort of a fresh summers whisky. With just a drop of water even more sour notes appears, unripe pears, lime peel and green grapes. Yes, I can point my finger at many things in this whisky. But there's no need as all it's little weird parts works perfectly together. The aftertaste is a bit drying, Martini?
Serve this a bit chilled and it's just perfect in the sun: 6.5
Aberlour 9yo 40% OB
An old 70's bottling, but for me personally, the older bottlings from Aberlour often outshines the newer versions. This one is sweet, sherry, a bit dry, concentrated flavours, and very firm despite a round and delicate nose. It's playful, soft, nectarine, choriander, thyme and roasted bananas. A wonderful old Aberlour, which tastes a lot older than it's 9 years.
Fantastic: 8.5
Aberlour 18yo 1990-2008 52.7% LMDW Belgique
A very light coloured malt, it's the first time I try an Aberlour without any maturation in sherry casks. It has a strong vanilla smell, bourbon matured. The taste is extremely concentrated on strong pepper and ammonia. Some time and water lifts the overall impression just the tiniest bit and some mint and vanilla appears on the finish. Other than that I must say it is not too much to brag about.
A really ill Aberlour: 2
Aberlour 12yo 40% OB
12 years with a finish in sherry casks have developed into a very fine 12-year old. Small hint of eucalyptus on the nose, together with brown sugar, sulphur and massive dark chocolate. Nice flavour, red apples, port wine and caramel. Like a brandy, but what brandy wouldn't it beat?
The sherry compliments perfectly: 8
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