Aberlour Cadenhead black label new vs. old

December 27, 2013

Aberlour Cadenhead black label
new vs. old

In the ‘black’s the new black’ series by Cadenhead, let’s have Aberlour today - I mean, Aberlour-Glenlivet – but first, a much older version.

Aberlour-Glenlivet 15 yo 1963/1978 (45.7 GL, Cadenhead, black dumpy)

As you probably know, GL means Gay-Lussac and can be directly converted into % vol. Colour: white wine. Nose: as the very pale colour suggested, this is totally spirit-driven. We’re actually quite far from the well-known fruity profile that contemporary Aberlours can display, this is rather sooty, mashy and full of iron, clay and chalk, not unlike other ‘old black dumpies’. Mashed potatoes, leaven, damp clothes, wool, old cellar and then more and more straight humus… ‘a walk in the forest under the rain’, as they say. Mouth: an unusual kind of chalky fruitiness, some cider apples, cocoa powder, quite some salt, green tea, something metallic again… It’s all very dry in fact, austere and grassy. Probably pretty segmenting, but it’s an old style that I like a lot. Finish: long, now rather bitter and rooty. Fernet-Branca. Comments: as the Whisky Sponge would say while paraphrasing Whiskyfun, this one’s quite intellectual. SGP:262 - 86 points.

Aberlour-Glenlivet 23 yo 1989/2013 (54.9%, Cadenhead, small batch, bourbon hogshead, 522 bottles)

This baby’s one of the October bottlings. Colour: pale gold. Nose: very funny, very unusual. There is a chalkiness again but other than that, it’s rather all on chestnuts, walnuts and mushrooms. So yes, humus again, liquorice wood, other roots, a little saltpetre, green cigars, earth… We’re getting closer and closer to the 1963, the only aroma that’s missing is iron/metal. With water: more leaves and vegetables. Fresh French beans? A little more vanilla too, orangeade… Mouth (neat): very ‘modern Aberlour’ now, that is to say full of apples, gooseberries, plums and other garden fruits. A lot of sweet malt too, green tea, apple peeling, lemon… It’s all very naked, with very little wood influence if any. With water: a fruit salad, which is very, very Aberlour in my opinion. Finish: of good length, sweet and fruity. Orange cake. Milk chocolate in the aftertaste. Comments: excellent, ultra-classic, well-matured unsherried Aberlour. SGP:551 - 88 points.

Check the index of all Aberlour I've tasted so far