
January 18, 2018

Little duos, today Aberfeldy

The owners did a great job with the fairly recent revamping of the packaging. Doesn’t anything kind of Victorian seem to work these days?…

Aberfeldy 2003/2017 (46%, Gordon & MacPhail, Connoisseur’s Choice)

Said to be ex-first fill sherry but the colour’s very pale, so that’s a little bizarre... Colour: pale gold. Nose: pretty much all on baked raisins and crushed overripe bananas at first nosing, with then notes of almond paste (frangipane), caramel, café latte and brown beer. More liquorice coming through after one minute or two. Rather classic Aberfeldy, I would say. Mouth: it’s a very malty one, starting with baked raisins again, which leads to kougelhopf, which in turn leads to panettone. Then butterscotch, a little burnt caramel, cornflakes, and toasted brioche. Very pleasant mouth feel at this strength. Finish: rather medium, malty, toffee-ish, always with burnt raisins. Some green pepper and crystallised oranges in the aftertaste. Comments: a very good example of the make, as they say.
SGP:441 - 83 points.

Aberfeldy 33 yo 1983/2016 (52.4%, OB, Exceptional Cask Series, for China, Marsala finish, 588 bottles)

I think it’s a little worrying that the owners felt the need to do a finishing in Marsala on a 33 yo malt, but you never know… Colour: pale amber. Nose: the truth is that we’ve already encountered ex-Marsala-finishes that had worked, and it seems that this is another fine example, with juicy ripe mirabelles, quinces, and above all, bergamots. I am a total sucker for bergamots, especially the sweets/candies they’re making out of them in the city of Nancy, in Lorraine. There’s also some blond tobacco, perhaps Camels as I remember them (although I haven’t nosed a pack of Camels since around the year 1995). Some brown beer as well and again. With water: lovely honeyed notes coming out, and those would come together with dates and figs. Dried ones. Mouth (neat): starts unexpectedly peppery and gingery, rather sharp, almost mustardy, and certainly a little bitter, but that rather works and would put this old Aberfeldy straight into the ‘spicy malts’ cluster. After that, we have bitter oranges aplenty. Do they have bitter oranges in Sicily? You do know that Marsala’s located in Sicily, don’t you. With water: much more tobacco, green tea, with a savoury side, notes of stout… Finish: long, peppery, with a green tannicity and rather a lot of apple peelings. Bitter oranges again in the aftertaste. Comments: nose and palate were very different. Loved the nose. An excellent one for sure, but didn’t the Marsala make it a little dry? Was it dry Marsala by the way?
SGP:461 - 87 points.

(Many thanks, Derek!)

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