[WHISKY REVIEW #40] A Sherry Monster That Throws Velvety Punches 🥃

steemswede (70)in #whisky • 7 years ago (edited)

Aberlour A'bunadh was my first truly great whisky experience. I was 20 years old and had only had a few drams of Glenfiddich here and there. It was around Christmas and I sat in front of the fireplace with my father who poured me a glass from this oddly beautiful and stubby bottle with a red and old school wax seal. Whisky - shmisky - it all tastes the same, right? Boom! A veritable explosion of aromas on my palate. The weight of the high alcohol was total and all-encompassing, but never frightening, because there were that dried fruit, those Christmas spices and that velvety feeling from the sherry casks. Almost like being hit in the face by velvet gloves. I sat there with big eyes and an open mouth in front of my father who was smiling contentedly. I was delivered. This was probably the best introduction I could have ever had to natural cask strength whisky. Whisky as it should be.

Seventeen years after the overwhelming whisky experience, A'bunadh, which is Scotch Gaelic and means "of the origins," maintains a high quality and the distillery released the 58th batch this year. I'm not quite sure which batch it was that turned me into a whisky-phile, but it must have been the 7th or 8th. The different batches differs in terms of ABV from year to year, but they are all exclusively aged in Spanish Oloroso sherry butts. It lacks an age statement simply because it's a vatting of several different casks with differing ages. Aberlour have also been clear that they don't want to get a consistent product that will smell and taste exactly the same from batch to batch. This is a natural and hand crafted product that will differ radically from one year to another. The A'bunadh we have in front of us today is the 57th batch released in 2016.

The Aberlour distillery is located on the junction of the burn of Lour and the River Spey, in the heart of Speyside. A distillery was established in 1826 by James Gordon and Peter Weir, but it was burnt to the ground in 1879. The same year, local banker James Fleming builds a new distillery on the same place. He had experience of whisky production from the Dailuaine Distillery, which he had been managing for a few years. The economy was no problem for Fleming who proved to be a great businessman. Production started in November 1880 and was widely noted in the newspapers. Production was initially at 300,000 liters annually. Something that drew special attention was that the entire distillery was powered by hydroelectricity; this was the case all the way until 1960! In 1892 the distillery was sold to Robert Thorne & Sons. Yet again, in 1898, the distillery was ravaged by a major fire. A spark had ignited the malting facility. The fire spread quickly and also hit the houses with the mash tuns and the stills. The damages amounted to £ 6,000, which at that time was a considerable amount of money. However, the distillery was insured and production was started again after only six months.

During the world war, the distillery, like nearly all other distilleries, experienced a tough time and was closed for long periods. In 1945 Aberlour was bought by Campbell's Distillers Limited, which sold it to Pernod Ricard in 1974. In 1973 major renovations amounting to 6 million pounds were carried out, which included four brand new copper stills. Their whisky became increasingly popular in the 80's and 90's and they won several awards. In 2002, they opened the distillery for visitors with a new and modern visitor center.

Aberlour get its soft water with ideal pH levels from local underground springs by the Ben Rinnes mountain. Today the distillery produces around 3.8 million liters annually.

Aberlour A'bunadh, Batch 57

ABV: 60.7%
Age: NAS / Vatting
Region: Speyside
Cask type: Spanish Oloroso Sherry Butts
Batch: 57
Price: Around ~65 USD / 0.7L
Natural color & non-chill filtered

Appearance: Auburn.

Nose: The first aroma that meets my nose is that of a warm sauna. Then oak, cherry marmalade, sultana raisins, figs, dates and vanilla. Just as wonderful as I remembered!

Palate: A wonderful attack of clove and spicy, tannic oak. Then some burnt caramel together with rich and dark chocolate notes. Given some air and a few more drops of water, sweet and creamy notes of sherry take the lead. I can also pick up notes of orange zest, nutmeg and ginger. It's huge, intense and rich, although extremely drinkable and mouthwatering.

Finish: Extremely long with prickly notes of Christmas spices that lingers and tickles the tongue; cinnamon, clove, star anise. There's something akin to having chewed on milk chocolate with salty licorice. After those notes fade out, aromas of wet wood remain.

Conclusion: This is quite the magic reunion. If you've just started to be interested in whisky and are used to drinking whisky with an ABV between 40-43%, try this one! There's no turning back after that. If you enjoy a sherry monster like Glenfarclas 105, you'll certainly enjoy the A'bunadh. But where the 105 is a bit rowdy and young, this one is way more concerted and drinkable. The earlier batches (1-40) can be quite expensive today, but if you get a chance to try one do not hesitate. A score of 92 points out of 100.