Aberlour Casg Annamh Batch 5 (NAS)

One of the first signs that scotch prices were beginning to spiral upwards and out of the reach of mortal men was when the no-age-statement sherry bomb A'bunadh by Aberlour climbed steadily from $50 (batch 33) to its current price of ~$100-125 (batch 72) depending on the store, at least in DC. The price of A'bunadh, for years, was a bellwether for scotch prices in general. Another was the old Yamazaki 12 Year, which went from $65 (!) in 2014 to its current 2022 insane (and not worth it) price of ~$150-165. 

Aberlour 12 Year (Classic Cask)

I quite like Aberlour's core flavors (orchards and orchards of rich fruit), and I absolutely love their monster sherry bomb Abunadh. But I've never had an independent bottling of their spirit until now (thanks to Rob Martin for the bottle). This comes from bottler The Classic Cask, and is aged 12 years in an "oak hogshead." Unsure if this implies ex-bourbon or ex-sherry. Bottled at 43%. 

Aberlour 12 Year

 

It's been a LONG time since I've had a non-cask strength Aberlour - I don't even remember what the signature notes are. The last Aberlour I had was the 10 Year (now discontinued), which I had in Madagascar (!). This 12 year offering, bottled at a disappointing 40%, is matured by "double cask" - sherry casks and bourbon casks married together after 12 years apart. As for the taste... well, let's find out: 

Aberlour A'Bunadh Batch 65

It's been a long time since I've had Aberlour A'Bunadh. This bottle is Batch 65, at 59.5% ABV, matured in oloroso sherry casks. No chill filtration, no coloring. Let's see what we have:

Aberlour 10 Year

This is the third of the three Scotches I sampled on a remote beach in Northwest Madagascar. The other two (Talisker 57 Degrees North and Johnnie Walker Green Label) I had first, and were outstanding. Running my eye down the bar's row of Scotch, I saw only one bottle I hadn't had - Aberlour 10 Year. 

Talisker 57 Degrees North (NAS)

Hello from Madagascar! I'm on the far side of the world but still knee-deep in the Scotch game. Well, ankle-deep - although I have to say that I'm impressed by the Scotch lineup in the 9th-poorest country in the world. Vodka, gin, bourbon are all bare bones here. Rhum is the local staple, and heavily available in a wide variety of flavored options (most notably coffee, vanilla, cinnamon, and a number of tropical fruits like coconut and lychee). 

Aberlour A'bunadh (Batches 45 and 46)

Even though the picture I found on the web indicates Batch 38, this post will cover batches 45 and 46. Aberlour is a Speyside distillery that is well known for the A'bunadh expression - from the Gaelic "of the original," it's a cask strength super sherry bomb of surprising complexity and no age statement.

As anyone who has read the previous posts or followed Scotch news generally is aware, this new trend of whiskies with No Age Statement is troubling for the simple reason that old whisky is finite and eventually runs out, and then you (the distillery) are left with lots of really young spirit to mix together. And young spirit is less complex and rich and dense than older, matured spirit. So, the theory goes, the end product suffers.