Aberlour A’Bunadh Batch #21
When it comes right down to it, I’m not sure that I’m much for subtlety. Smoky, heavily-peated whiskies were my starting point in the world of scotch. The smokier the better, and it took me a year or two to get ‘off the island’, as it were. Slowly my palate adapted and I was able to discern the nuances in a wider range of whiskies, from peaty-beasts to delicate, unpeated whiskies. And so next I turned my eyes toward heavily-sherried whiskies. Nuance be damned.
Whereas smoky whiskies are relatively common, heavily sherried whiskies are relatively more rare. Many are one-off single cask bottlings, such as the 25-year single-cask G&M Strathisla or the 24-year single-cask, cask-strength SMWS Inchgower that I tried recently. Whiskies such as these, great though they are, are both hard to find and expensive. And this is where the beauty of the A’Bunadh comes in.
Yet here is a massively sherried whisky, up there with some of the most heavily sherried ones that you can find. But instead of being scarce it is one of Aberlour’s regular bottlings, nearly always available. And what’s more, it is very affordable. For a whisky of this impact and quality, that’s a tough combination to beat.
Aberlour was originally established in 1826, and since then has been rebuilt a couple of times following massive fires. Today, it remains one of the few whisky distilleries using a very high proportion of sherry casks, ranging anywhere from 25-50% of their casks in use at any one time. Today their regular bottlings are a 12-year and a 16-year, alongside the A’Bunadh. The 12 and 16-year both use a process that Aberlour calls “double-matured”, whereby the whisky from two separate casks, one sherry one bourbon, are blended together and then left to age for an additional period of time for the flavors to marry. Both of these are also quite nice whiskies, and also great values.
A’Bunadh translates as “the origin” in Gaelic, and this whisky definitely gives the impression of coming practically straight from the cask. A’Bunadh was first released in 1997, and since then Aberlour has released 25 different batches. Each batch is drawn from a single sherry cask (sherry casks, known as “butts”, can hold up to 500 liters, or 132 gallons, or somewhere in the realm of 600+ bottles), and bottled at cask-strength. As a result, each batch is slightly different from others, due to the nuances of single-cask aging. The A’Bunadh has no age statement on the bottle, but indications are that it is generally around 8 years.
This bottling, from batch #21 was bottled at 59.5%.
The whisky pours with a wonderful viscosity, and is a dark, amber red, the color of polished mahogany. The nose is rich with classic sherried whisky notes of almonds, red wine, raspberries, and melted brown sugar. This is a whisky that I could thoroughly enjoy just nosing all day long. The palate is velvety and unctuous, heavily textured with mouth-coating oils and flavors. The flavor profile is similar to that of the nose, with brown sugar, candied almonds, creme caramel, and unfiltered honey. The palate is just teeming with flavor, and the high percentage really makes it buzz with activity. A little water mellows things out, but you really have to start at full-throttle, to experience all of the whisky-goodness of the A’Bunadh. The finish is very long-lasting with flavors of marzipan, honey, and red fruit. Very lingering and enticing.
Wow. The A’Bunadh is just a fabulous whisky. If you enjoy sherried whiskies, or just whisky in general, you simply must grab a dram of this. Even better, make sure that you have some time and good company to sit with this whisky and really enjoy it to its fullest.
Related Posts:
No comments yet.