Aberlour 18, 43% abv.

Nose: initially its quite sharp and rough, but with time I get some melting fruit rollup, nutmeg, clove, soap, star anise, and these spices seem to get stronger and overtake the fruity aromas with time.

Palate: initial palate is like light fruit, like a young green melon, mid palate has the fruit develop generally berries and stone fruits, apricot skin, peach skin, back palate has some light smoke or burnt fruit. With time, it transitions to fruit and light sherry plus light coffee with a back palate of wood and some hints of sulphur or malt. The sulphur and smoke seem to take over when given more time to air out.

Finish: medium, fruit tea, sweet tea leaves. With time the finish becomes more sherry finished-like, slightly over due.

Quite flavorful, fruit all over the body, some supporting elements, but time is required. The fruit and sherry aspects get stronger and stronger with time, but also show evidence of perhaps entering the over aged sherry realm. Letting the glass sit brings out the sulphur and smoke, but it's not overwhelming. This one is a little hard to understand since it is quite sensitive to time. Had this at Slainte mhath bar in Busan, South Korea.

Grade: C+

Whiskyanalysis.com, 8.76 ± 0.27 on 13 reviews
Whiskyfun.com, Serge, sgp:451, 86 points
Malt maniacs, 84 points on 4 reviews
Bestshotwhiskyreviews, Jan van den Ende, 83 
Whisky advocate, John Hansell, 91 points
Ralfy, 90 points
Lawhiskeysociety, B- on 3 reviews

Image courtesy of Eric Yee.

Eric Yee

🇭🇰 🇺🇸(LA, SF) -> 🇯🇵 (京都, 東京) -> 🇰🇷 (서울, 부산)