Review by: TOModera
Day 1 in the land of UK (Pronounced “Ook”, though the locals seem to not know this)! After playing Borderlands all day, testing two different samples and then getting only 1.5 hours of sleep, I was ready to have my first dram in the land of Booze and History (I came for booze and friends).
As you may have noticed, in preparation of this trip, I did an order from Masters of Malt. Normally I can’t, as they don’t ship to Canada. My first sample is Aberlour 12 year Double Cask Matured, right from the Beginner’s list.
Aberlour has 3 different 12 year releases: NCF, Double Cask Matured, and Sherry Cask Matured. This one was both aged in Sherry and Bourbon Casks, to balance out the typical flavours you find in each. Aberlour has been a pretty stable distillery has had very few changes (save for changing hands a couple of times) over the years, and it shows in their whiskies. Let’s see how the Beginner Dram goes.
Distillery: Aberlour Distillery.
Bottler: Distillery Bottling.
Region: Speyside.
ABV: 43%.
Age: 12 years.
Cask type: Sherry and Bourbon Casks.
Price: $58.95 (CAD) (Note, while I’m in the land of UK, I’ll still be giving all prices for Ontario to stay consistent with past reviews).
Color: Brass
Nose: Light strawberry, vanilla, oak, little smoke, lemon, lemon cake
Very, very light nose on this one. Almost non-existent. Give it some time, cover it up and you have the mixture between the two casks coming together to make a cake like smell.
In this case, the cake is in fact a lie (I’ll show myself out…. unless you’ll believe that I’m jet lagged and that’s where that old nugget came from).
Taste: Lemon, smoke, oak, vanilla, orange liqueur, cumin, cherry
Right amount of fruit, oak, and spice. Good balance, though a bit limited. Kept looking for Godot in the taste.
Finish: Strawberry, cherry pepper, mushrooms, peppercorns, dill
Simple, medium short finish with heat and earth. The dill surprised me, which is nice, not that there isn’t anything wrong with that. I’m just saying it isn’t for me.
Well there’s my required three cultural references, guess I can conclude
Conclusion: This is a good start on a whisky. I’m actually finding myself a little confused though. It’s almost like it needed more time in each Cask to pump up the flavours. Very subtle, albeit weak flavours, and I wish they had gone to a 14 year with it to really see how it would grow. Or maybe make a new A’bunadh version using this technique.
Granted I’ve only ever aged 750ml of rum, so maybe I’m full of shit. Just maybe.
Final Score: 81.
Scoring Legend:
- 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky.
- 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category.
- 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram.
- 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff.
- 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting.
- 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better.
- 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink.
- 50-59: Save it for mixing.
- 0-49: Blech.
Malt Runners 