ABERLOUR A'BUNADH - AGE?

[Deactivated Member]

I read on one webshop site (pretty sure that it was Oddbins) that this was a 12yo. Is this true?

[Newbie]

It may contain 12 year old whisky. I believe that Aberlour selects a range of casks with a variety of ages for Abundh and they use the casks that they feel will best suit the flavour profile for Abundh. Thats why Abundh has no age statement.

[Leither]

Newbie is of course right, the AA has no age statement.

From the FAQ thread (folks, please check here first before asking a question) it has been discussed before:

viewtopic.php?t=5278

In a nutshell we will never know for sure what exactly is in each batch - the blender will select casks from various vintages to attempt to get the correct flavour profile for AA. The average age may, or may not, be 12.

Other cask strenth NAS expressions are the same eg Glenfarclas 105 and Ardbeg Uigeadail

[mikeymad]

There was one that said. It was the Silver Label and it was a 12yo. Other than that it could be down to a 6 or 3 year old as far as we know for any batch.

Cheers,

[woodhill]

Not to show my ignorance here - I think 3-6 years would not be ong enough to get that colour and flavour from the wood

[mikeymad]

Not to show my ignorance here - I think 3-6 years would not be ong enough to get that colour and flavour from the wood

It depends on a lot of factors. First Fill, the amount of toasting/char of the barrel. And a lot happens in the first year or so. That is why you can finish a whisky in a differnet barrel for only 6 months and it changes the characteristics of the whisky a great deal (i.e. a Rum finish, etc.)

Cheers,

[Gov]

I am thinking of running out to Binny's this weekend and getting a bottle of this. This will be my first CS whisky if I get it. Binny's is the only place I know of around my home that carries this whisky, although I am not sure which batch they have. Anyway, does anyone what to talk me out of getting this?

[woodhill]

The only reason anyone would talk you out of this was that they wanted the bottle you were going to buy!

[Newbie]

Casks can have a massive effect on the colour of the whisky. Take a look at the pictures posted by IrishWhisyChaser on this thread, look at the colour of the water after 3 days!

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=7700&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=35

Also look at the HP Single Cask from Oddbins, its really dark from the first fill sherry cask!

[woodhill]

Good Point Newbie! (really must stop calling you that)

I had some Batch 20 earlier and it really is dark and rich

[Newbie]

Its not your fault, in hindsight I should have picked a better name! But whats in a name...

Been meaning to pop open my bottle of A'bunah but wanna finish some bottles before I open anymore

[Muskrat Portage]

Y'know Newbie, if you ask Matt really nicely he may be able to adjust your moniker if it bothers you. I think it will be useful in future, as your knowledge expands, when you post as Newbie but are rated as Cask Strength (or OMGDHES).

Muskrat Portage

[Deactivated Member]

Leither said "From the FAQ thread (folks, please check here first before asking a question) it has been discussed before"

Didn't know there a a thread per topic rule. If there is, then this site won't last long.

[Deactivated Member]

Having been around long enough now to have seen a good many members come and go, I try to be more tolerant than I once was of those who ask redundant questions. As well, I try to be tolerant of those who are just entering the "We've discussed this before, look it up" phase, which I remember being in myself for a good little while.

Hopefully others will be tolerant of the "I'm so bloody tolerant, what's wrong with you?" phase that I am now in.

[Lawrence]

Leither said "From the FAQ thread (folks, please check here first before asking a question) it has been discussed before"

Didn't know there a a thread per topic rule. If there is, then this site won't last long.

There's no rule.

[Lawrence]

.......and by not having an age statement it allows the blenders a wider range of casks. I spoke to Neil Macdonald from Chivas (via email) about the make up of a'bunadh and he said they actually like having some variation in the batches. In any case it works. 80 to 100 casks in each batch and if I was to make a bet I would guess that the median age is around 9yo.

The only a'bunadh with an age statement is the sterling silver label 12 year old. (as was pointed out upstream in this thread).

[Newbie]

I would ask to change my name, but I've been around a bit & I don't want to confuse people by changing it! Maybe once I've got a bit more experience I'll change it (say in a decade or two ).

Having a bit of variation in the batches keeps it interesting and is a great bit of marketing! It must be working because A'bunadh is still bloody sold out everywhere locally! None in Waitrose or Oddbins!

80 - 100 casks per batch, wonder how many bottles is that per batch? My best guest is anything from 22,000 to 100,000!

[ResIpsa539]

it's a vatting from generally the mid-teens aged casks. there are some 19 and some 11 YO as well.

let's just say it averages out to 15.

Interesting. Where'd you hear this from? I'm guessing the youngest isn't 11 years old, or else they'd slap that age statement on there.

[Deactivated Member]

I would ask to change my name, but I've been around a bit & I don't want to confuse people by changing it!

Maybe you can have it changed to "The Poster Formerly Known As Newbie".

80 - 100 casks per batch, wonder how many bottles is that per batch? My best guest is anything from 22,000 to 100,000!

All sherry butts, so what, 500 or so bottles per butt? Someone here will remember. 40,000 to 50,000, if I'm near the mark. (So stop whining about those 14,000-bottle limited editions.)