Aberlour 12, Sherry Cask Matured, 40% abv.

Aberlour is Gaelic for "mouth of the chattering burn," a stream near the distillery, but it seems like everything near that area is named "Aberlour". The distillery is part of Pernod Ricard and quite famous in France. This 12 year version is matured in first-fill Oloroso sherry butts hand selected in Spain each year by the master distiller.

Nose: light hints of fruit, hints of old steamed lotus leaves, hints of wood amd oak, spice covered honey, a little peppery without the sting, very subdued and mellow for Aberlour. Water just emphasizes the old steamed lotus leaves, the fruit is more or less gone after some water.

Palate: essentially two flavors, mellowed fruit salad and old steamed lotus leaves. No smoke, not too spicey. After a few drops of water, very mellow, only old steamed lotus leaf flavors remain. Interestingly, after a piece of dark chocolate, the sweeter aspects revealed themselves.

Finish: short, has a watery mouthfeel.

Dry glass: wax.

Admittedly I had high hopes for this one, but the flavor profile mostly consisted of old steamed lotus leaves and nothing else. Although the emphasis was soft, it just didn't deliver much. No emphasis on fruit or sherry, not spicey, unbalanced. Water definitely didn't help, seemed unchill filtered though.... perhaps I didn't give enough time? If there was a way to add a significant amount of sweet strawberry flavors, then this would have been amazing. Had this at Slainte mhath bar in Busan, South Korea.ed

Grade: C

Malt maniacs, Thomas Lipka, 85 points
Malt maniacs, Oliver Klimek, 83 points
Thewhiskyphiles, Barry Bradford, 85/100

Image courtesy of Eric Yee.

Eric Yee

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