Tag Archives: Aberlour

Aberlour 1988 “Distillers Selection” (40%, OB, for Spain, Circa 2002)

A few days ago my whisky club had a tasting of Aberlours. Quite a unique one to boot since these were almost all exclusively official bottlings. We only had one independent Aberlour. It was from a Bourbon Cask and did show the distillery profile for a while, but that was quickly gone. We had a few out of the standard range and a few from the standard ranges from the past. A few bottles stood out. We liked one old 12yo double cask matured for its high dark Oloroso Sherry content (and costing next to nothing). An old 21yo from 2000 was very good and this odd one out. The 1988 Distillers Selection, that was released exclusively in Spain. After this one 1988 came only one other Distillers Selection, the 1989. Again for Spain only. For Aberlour this is quite special. It is said that instead of the usual Oloroso, for this bottling Fino and/or Manzanilla is used!

Color: Full Gold

Nose: Wood, caramel and spirity. Perfumed hay and a little bit of rot. Rotting leaves. It’s grassy and somewhat sherried. Malty with murky water. Very malty actually. Earwax and cream. Still the wood plays also a big part in the profile of the nose. Although the whole is pretty raw and dirty, there are some clean spots to it too. It’s a bit like the different markers come in and go out of the profile. Just like a blinking traffic light. Quite an experience. This definitely has to breathe for a while.

Taste: Thick and wood spice. Malty and sweet. Quite creamy at first, but it suffers a bit here of the low ABV of 40% (not much though). A whisky not to be taken moderately. Big sips are the way to go here. Some bread and mocha in the aftertaste, also a slightly bitter and sour woody note. The longer gone the more woody and bitter. When your palate is a bit tired (late in the day and evening), the wood isn’t such a big problem anymore, and the whole gets more toffee sweet.

As said above, we had this amongst a lot of other Aberlour official bottlings and it did stand out a bit. It’s not the usual Aberlour. It does seem to be more malty and does have some more wood. I’m very curious what’s the story behind this version. Still, I enjoyed it. And considering the Original price a very good bang for your buck, als with most official Aberlours actually.

The 10yo is an entry-level, hotel bar kind of Whisky. If you skip this and pick any other one from the range, like the 10yo Sherry version, you’ll have a good malt at almost no cost. Very interesting distillery with interesting bottles and marketing to match.

Points: 84

Thanks to Jose Juan for finding me this bottle. Thanks also go out to Heinrich and Ralf for the info!

By the way, here is Heinrich’s very nice site about Aberlour.

Aberlour ‘A’bunadh’ (60.9%, OB, Batch No. 33, 2010)

There just had to be an Aberlour in one of the first posts here. Aberlour 10yo was my first single malt whisky ever! There’s no 10yo anymore in my lectern, not even a 10yo in stock. Don’t get me wrong. It’s a decent whisky, and it delivers a lot for the price it costs. But the good people at Aberlour also make this A’bunadh (of the origin), and compared to the 10yo this is really a steal. Very high quality whisky and it comes in all those neat batches. Oh, and it cask strength, and I just love cask strength.

A’bunadh, as it’s called, has no age statement (NAS) on the bottle, but is believed to be between 8 and 10 years old, and comes solely from Spanish Oloroso Sherry Butts. Well, if you could smell it now, or see it’s colour you would know this is true.

Color: Dark Copper or Orange/Brown.

Nose: Musty and meaty. Oloroso Sherry with oak. It even smells young and harsh. It misses some depth you can pick up from old sherry casks. (Just nose some 40yo+ Glenfarclas and you’ll know what I mean). Toffee, clay and some sourness (from the oak). It’s dusty and has a flowery note. Blackberry anyone?

Taste: Thick and full of flavour. Berries again, ashy and very nice. Some cardboard and a bit harsh due to its youth and strength. Hot! Lots of first fill casks in here. It smelled like a young sherried whisky and it tastes like one to and that is very nice for a change. There is nothing wrong with young whiskies, as long as they are well made, and this, this is well made, I can assure you. Great balance. Toasted wood in the finish.

Even though it’s young, strong and harsh I still like this neat. Water takes away the little sweetness it has and makes it a bit more harsh. Drinking this at cask strength, makes me happy. It’s a bit of a drug that way. Recommended. There are a lot of batches which have their differences. More than you would have thought. So it can be a lot of fun comparing different batches from different years. Some are less harsh, or more sweet or…You guessed it, come back often to A’bunadh, and you’ll be welcomed back every time by a very nice whisky. By the way, who said there weren’t any good sherry casks anymore, and who said those sherried whiskies aren’t affordable anymore?

Points: 87