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| Hi, this is one of our (almost) daily tastings. Santé! |
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October 25, 2019 |
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Little duos, today sherried Aberlour of good age |
Aberlour, great distillery, wonderful Victorian settings, a lot of authenticity, and a very fine distillate. We quaff a lot of Pernod’s Aberlour in France. Only two Aberlours today, this is a quicker session… |
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Aberlour 17 yo 2002/2019 (57.6%, OB, 1st fill sherry hogshead, cask #2499) 
A single cask, I believe for la Maison du Whisky in Paris. Sometimes, you really need whisky when you’re in Paris! Colour: office coffee. Nose: coffee indeed, teak oil, wood smoke, sauna oils, eucalyptus, burnt juniper berries, pencil shavings, lapsang souchong… But where does this smokiness come from? With water: more lapsang souchong, freshly sawn woods, pine wood… Mouth (neat): a bit strong, with wood varnish and a hotness reminiscent of some artisanal plum spirit. Some burnt caramel, and really a lot of pencil shavings. Sherry-treated STR? There’s more oak than sherry. With water: better, fruitier, more on jams and Chinese sauces, or plums, but it lacks polish and roundness. Finish: rather long. Plum spirit aged in new wood and chocolate sauce (mole). Comments: not bad at all, but the oak feels too much for me, it’s too ‘modern’, pine-y, and too wood-driven. A tad disappointed.
SGP: 472- 79 points. |
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Aberlour 26 yo 1992/2019 (51.9%, Liquid Treasures, 10th anniversary, sherry hogshead, 101 bottles) 
Hold on, isn’t that Melania Trump on the label? Colour: gold. Nose: get out of here, this is another funny one. Smoked butterscotch? Wait, mizunara? Remember, mizunara is some kind of Mongolian oak that adds £100 to just any bottle, how smart! Fresh turnips, buckwheat, brown bread, old fireplace, barbecue… With water: sour breads and woods, and more buckwheat. Breton galettes (crèpes). A biggish feeling of brown bread indeed. Mouth (neat): strange. Do I like it or do I hate it? Schweppes and toffee, rosemary and thyme, 90%-chocolate, pumpernickel, charcoal… Not 100% sure… With water: sour, fermentary, bready, spicy… In truth, this baby feels almost like some new 3yo craft whisky made by Tesla-driving ex-private-bank hipsters. Quite. Finish: rather long, on caramelised sour bears. Comments: this baby lost me, almost completely. Aberlour, really? 26 yo, really? Sherry hogshead, really? Felix qui potuit Rerum cognoscere Causas, said Virgil, who used to know something about Scotch malt whisky…
SGP:361 - 82 points. |
Wait, that wasn’t exactly satisfactory, let’s pull out a quick ace… |
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Aberlour-Glenlivet 8 yo (50%, OB, Rinaldi, Italy, 1960s) 
Advertised as ‘Campbell’s Glenlivet Malt’, aun older cube bottle of the House of Campbell’s 8 years-old Aberlour. These wee bottles were almost always utterly stunning. Colour: amber. Nose: bang, perfection. Chocolate, prunes, mocha, tar, rubber boots, soy sauce, old brandy. With water: whoo-hoo-hoo! Raw chocolate of the highest kind. Fab, stunning, irresistible, self-imposing, evident and definitive. I could find other adjectives but I wouldn’t want to bore you to death. Mouth (neat): puts so many new whiskies to shame! This is old Pauillac, it’s got the finest raisins and fruitcakes, the greatest coffees, some perfect smoke, soot and ashes, an amazing tarriness, and flabbergasting notes of marrow, suet, and wild pipe tobacco. Dried porcinis as well. With water: please call the Anti-Maltoporn Brigade! Almost rancioting… Finish: rather long, on chocolate better than chocolate and the greatest old brandies. Comments: always watch the extraordinary little square bottles! (White Heather’s blend was great too).
SGP:462 - 93 points. |
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