Aberlour Tasting - 19th July - 7pm

[DanAir]

Thanks for the welcome

Aberlour 10
Find this one slightly unremarkable - pleasant enough but not very challenging

Nose: Sweet, overripe plums
Palate: A little watery, mild horseraddish sharpness, little to get excited about
Finish: Some non-specific malty flavours remain but evaporate quite quickly leaving just the alcohol.

[Willie JJ]

Hi Dan
nice to see you.

[DanAir]

Hi Willie

Aberlour 12 - Double Matures
Nose: Don't know if anyone else agrees but I'm still getting plums! No matter - I like plums!
Palate: Ooooh, the sharpness has gone (yay!) but there's still little flavour development. Orange, dull spice and raisins.
Finish: Well, the sharpness went from the palate but it still bites on the finish.

[Ras Mazunga]

Did a comparison between the #20 and #23: The #23 really smells like chocolate.
This is the best A'bunadh I've ever had.

[Ras Mazunga]

Hi Gov, lots of posts to read thru I guess.

[DanAir]

Aberlour 16
Nose: Creamy and delicate. Some orange
Palate: Lemon sherbet, cool, much rounder than younger versions. Slighly grassy
Finish: Longer with flavours sustained better. Lingering taste of ginger.
Comment: This is more like it! More grown up and sophisticated.

[Ras Mazunga]

Tasting the #20 next to a Macallan 10cs,
They are easy to distinquish by the the sulphur the Mac has, next to each other the #20 is a bit soapy.

[DanAir]

Aberlour 18

Nose: Burnt sugar, rye, anise
Palate: Charming, deep flavours, ripe fruit, marmalade. Chewy.
Finish: Long and flavourful, lovely
Comment: Undoubtedly the best of the four, would love a whole bottle.

[DanAir]

I'd love to do another round, and I wish I had some A'Bunadhs but I'd best be going to bed now. Looking forward to catching up on what's happened when I have another look in the morning.

Happy dramming!

Oh, one more thing...

It's been emotional.

[Wave]

Looks there's a few left on-line, I just got home from a trip to the big town. After reading through the thread a bit I've decided on a'bunadh batch #8, 60.2% ABV.

N: Sweet sherry and white chocolates, a dash of springwater reveals some tangerines and a slight whiff of smoke.
P: Creamy fruits, spicy and sweet, mouth-coating
F: Long velvety and chewy, the sweetness just keeps going and going.

Cheers!

[Ras Mazunga]

Sleep well DanAir. Sweet Dr(e)ams.

Hello Wave,
I'm happy to see you tasted white chocolate in an A'bunadh, I thought I was going crazy.
Haven't tried the #8 yet but have 2 on the shelf.
Just poured a Mortlach F&F 16yo, courtesy of Willie JJ.
I love this one, it can hold itself against the Mac 10cs and the A'bunadh #20. It's very different but it has personality. I'll order one I guess.

[Sherried Malt]

Hey guys. I'm back. Who's still here? Haven't pored thru all the posts...

[Wave]

Just poured a Mortlach F&F 16yo, courtesy of Willie JJ.
I love this one, it can hold itself against the Mac 10cs and the A'bunadh #20. It's very different but it has personality. I'll order one I guess.

The Mortlach 16 F&F bottling is what started my Mortlach love affair, I got to taste it again in a pub in Dufftown a couple of months ago and found it to be the same bruising sherry monster I fell in love with 6 years back, but then I tasted the Dailuaine 16 F&F, Wow! jaw-droppingly good! Every bit as sherried as the Mortlach only much smoother, a real delight!


I'm still tasting this a'bunadh batch #8, it's getting better with each passing minute. It'll probably be the only Aberlour I open tonight since I've already have 2 full shelves of openned bottles and planning to open 2 more bottles next Saturday for my 50th b-day, an Ardbeg '77 and a Brora '77 for a head-to-head tasting!
Stay tuned!

Cheers!

[mikeymad]

Hey Ras and SM,

I am still around. I have not been dramming in a while. I might start back up in a bit. Got some more samples.

Cheers,

[Wave]

A second wind?

[Sherried Malt]

The Mortlach 16 F&F bottling is what started my Mortlach love affair, I got to taste it again in a pub in Dufftown a couple of months ago and found it to be the same bruising sherry monster I fell in love with 6 years back, but then I tasted the Dailuaine 16 F&F, Wow! jaw-droppingly good! Every bit as sherried as the Mortlach only much smoother, a real delight!

Cheers!

Thanks for the tip on the Dailuaine! Sounds excellent!

[Sherried Malt]

Hey Ras and SM,

I am still around. I have not been dramming in a while. I might start back up in a bit. Got some more samples.

Cheers,

Get some food in you and you'll be a new man. How does scotch go with a nice juicy burger??

[Sherried Malt]

A nightcap then...

A'bunadh 18 (Thanks, Ganga!)

Nose: some marmalade, some wine (Aussie shiraz?), some alcohol. Really get the shiraz now that I've noticed it. With water, nose is much more muted. Get some more caramel now with the winey notes nearly gone.

Palate: Lots of chocolate. Some caramel. With water, tons of sherry sweetness before the alcohol kicks in.

Finish: Lots of alcohol. Long finish. Quite a bit of pepper too. Nice complex finish with water once everything is not overpowered by the alcohol.

Another A'bunadh I have to remember to add a splash of water every time.

Good night, all. Enjoy the rest of your drams!

[UUNetBill]

Damn, damn, and double damn. I guess I missed all of the fun - was enjoying some time with my wife on the deck with a few bottles of Charles Krug Family Reserve, an '03 and an '04 - was a nice change, but I was really looking forward to sampling some of my a'bunadhs - still might, if my palate recovers a little.

The only Aberlours I have in the house are all a'bunadhs - a batch 14 courtesy of Sherried Malt, an 18 and a 21. Might have to dram a little just to get caught up. . .

[UUNetBill]

Okay, it's almost 11:00 PM here in the Rockies, and I'm just getting started.

First up, an a'bunadh Batch 14, from Sherried Malt.

N: Spicy, tart apple, orange, and did I say spicy? After a few minutes, a bit of toasted malt.
P: Spicy orange, hint of caramel, peppery and hot - in a good way
F: Not too long, like a cinnamon Altoid but fades quickly.

A nice dram, but not as good as my memory of the batch 21. I'll move on to batches 18 and 21 and then maybe revisit this one.

[UUNetBill]

Now this is odd - I thought I had an unopened bottle of Batch 18 downstairs, but it turns out it's actually a Batch 14. Go figure. Since I'd already opened it, I poured a taste, and the nose is quite different from the Batch 14 I received from Sherried Malt. It seems maltier, but the fruits are still there. This one seems to run a little hotter on the palate as well; I'm going to attribute this to the newer bottle not having oxidized at all. I actually think this one will get better with age; it seems a bit feinty, might need to breathe a little. Let me try a splash of water. . .

Ouch - just a tiny splash of water seems to have killed the nose. Lost all of the fruits and now just seem to have caramel and alcohol. Palate seems to have gone winey as well - this one doesn't seem to take water well. . .

Nope, I definitely liked SM's sample better, and I'll put that down to having been opened longer. Time to take five and move on to the Batch 21.

[mikeymad]

very good Bill... also complements on your wine selections.

I was going to work over some more Aberlour samples. But I started drinking some Macallan with my honey...

Looking forward to more of your (and any other) notes.

Cheers,

[UUNetBill]

On to the a'bunadh Batch 21, NAS, 59.5% ABV.

This one's been open a bit longer, and it's the first a'bunadh I ever had, so I'm probably a little biased.

N: Sweet and spicy, softer than the batch 14. Tangy orange.
P: As the nose would suggest, sweet and spicy. Meaty, really, with a touch of malt
F: Longer than the batch 14, minty, chocolately, oily. Very nice.

This is a nice dram. I've always liked the a'bunadh, but not certain that I could identify different batches. This one has a lot of character, though, a very nice way to end the evening.

Good night, all. Sorry I missed the rush earlier!!

[UUNetBill]

very good Bill... also complements on your wine selections.

I was going to work over some more Aberlour samples. But I started drinking some Macallan with my honey...

Looking forward to more of your (and any other) notes.

Cheers,

Mikeymad - any appreciation of wine on my part is definitely due to my wife. She's the one that can steer me to a good wine. She is both a connie-sewer and a neophyte collector. Here's a shot of her cellar:



http://d185947.u36.u2-web.com/gpage.html

and a link to her collection:

http://www.intelliscanner.net/aemurphy/wine/

Now I need to bump up my SM collection to catch up with her!!

[mikeymad]

It seems only fair, purchase away....

cheers,

[Ras Mazunga]

Thanks for the tip Wave.

[LagaDrinker]

Hi all,

Got called into work urgently last night so missed the session, have really enjoyed reading all the posts though. I still have all my samples and will be posting my opinions tonight around 8pm. Sorry its late but i am really looking forward to it.

Thanks again Matt for the Samples

[TheTross]

I'll be joining in later as well, as I've still got three expressions that I didn't manage to get through on Friday night/Saturday morning.

[bear]

Sorry only getting round to the tasting now

Aberlour 10

Nose: Sweet sherry, orangy
Palate: Def sweet sherry, dry
Finish: Short but nice and dry

[bear]

Aberlour 12

Nose: Like the 10 sweet, apples slightly minty
Palate: Apples with a touch of mint and honey
Finish: Nice, dry long minty finish

[bear]

Onto the 16

nose: chocolate, mint and marmalade
palate: malty, chocolate, with a slighty minty note
finish: mint, more complex than the 10 and 12

A good whisky, think i'll have to order a bottle

[bear]

18

Nose: again sherry, orange with a hint of mint
Palate: Immediate spice with hints of mint and orange
Finish: Long and complex, comes up and bites you towards the end. I like it.

Another great Aberlour, think i'll have to buy this one too, might even venture back up to the distillery soon.

cheers.

[TheTross]

Aberlour 18 (43%, OB)

Colour: Burnt orange

Nose: Rich, with lots of sherry. Also some marmalade. Christmas cake (heavy on the marzipan). Honey and eucalyptus, with faint traces of mint. Furniture polish. Spices. Suggestion of nuts and very mild, aromatic curry. Hints of cinnamon and white chocolate. Some citrus fruit (lemon and orange). Possibly a tinge of white pepper in the background.

Palate: Plenty of sherry and citrus fruit again, with dark chocolate and a little cinnamon. Also mildly spicy and oaky. Erring on the thin side though.

Finish: Sweet, mainly on honey and lemon. The faintest hint of peat, and surprisingly little sherry compared to nose and palate. Oranges develop after a short while.


Now moving onto a non-sherried bottling...

[Sherried Malt]

and a link to her collection:

http://www.intelliscanner.net/aemurphy/wine/

Now I need to bump up my SM collection to catch up with her!!

Wow, that's a pretty nice and diverse cellar. Guess you never have to worry about people dropping over and not being able to offer them something to drink!

[TheTross]

Aberlour 11yo 1994/2005 (46%, Single Malts of Scotland, Cask #112, 221 bottles, exclusive to TWE) - from a single ex-bourbon hogshead

Colour: White wine

Nose: Sweet and honeyed, with a soft bourbon character. Toffee. A little vanilla, menthol and oak. Hints of biscuits, nuts, wax, white pepper and lavender-scented soap. Slight grassiness in the background. Also slightly buttery. Farley's rusks???

Palate: Toffee and butterscotch dominate. Also light vanilla, spices and wood, with some very weak citrus.

Finish: Sweet. Honey, a little eucalyptus and fruit, with mint and something vaguely biscuity coming through a little later. Leaves the mouth quite dry.


It's very interesting tasting a non-sherried Aberlour. It has a natural sweetness and is very pleasant, but it's not one I could drink all night and is certainly not one I'd choose over the regular sherried expressions.