Aberlour A'Bunadh Review- Single Malt Scotch Whisky Sherry Bomb!
Aberlour A'Bunadh (or, the origin) is my 14th whisky brand I've tried in the last 6 months or so. I'm new to scotch whisky, but I'm learning quickly. This particular whisky received very high ratings from several reviews and thus, peaked my interest. A local shop in Costa Mesa CA called High Time Cellars, stocks this beauty so I made a run there to try it out. Lets get right to the chase here, this malt lives up to all expectation in quality and overall deliciousness. I'm a big Springbank fan (a unique distillery look them up) so any Whisky that can impress me beyond that brand is worth recommending.
Aberlour A'Bunadh 750ml Best Price
My first tasting of this whisky did not go so well. I added too much water as it turns out, and found that this whisky (batch 41 @ 59%) drowns easily. Take your time adding water to it. I'd say about a half teaspoon to one full teaspoon per one full shot at the most. When in doubt, just add a few drops and give it time to open up- about 5 minutes, then taste. If you need more water give it a few more drops then repeat.
However, my second tasting went marvelously. I'm actually still feeling the effects of this powerful supercharged beauty as I type. This whisky sells for about $58.00 a bottle here in the U.S. competitively priced, and is absolutely worth every penny.
On the Nose- Toffee and Dates with brown sugar cooked warm peach overtone, but not overly sweet. Spicy just a bit, and a warm soft incredible aroma lingers. Honey, and lots of it. You want to stick your nose in this and not ever pull it out. This is a fine whisky on the nose. There's a hint of overripe banana to it mated with Apricot jam, but always melded with the honey and dates. Get the picture? Warm fruit here, and maple syrup hints. This is a delicious whisky to smell and lives up to it's reputation I can tell you that.
The Taste- After nosing it you are treated with a taste that is quite similar. There's no false advertising here. Deep rich flavor, but very smooth.. at first you might think too smooth.. but give this one time. Let it open up. Lots of sherry here (matured in oloroso sherry casks), and I mean lots. Sherry gives this malt its beauty, and its date and toffee/date/honey base. There's a light spice (never heavy spice but its there). The overripe banana is still there, but the taste adds something to the apricot and honey spice- a tad bit of crisped brown sugar, right out of the oven. Oh it's simply a delight. Not the big bold bad whisky I read about, unless you consider great warm fruit flavor big bad and bold.
It does not dry out the palette and the taste lingers very consistently for a very long time. I'm about 1 minute shy of 15 minute since my last taste of this whisky and I can still feel and taste the effects on my tongue. Leaves the mouth wet but satiated. One of the most delicious whisky's I've tried to date, in fact .. it is.
My Final Mark: I give this whisky a 93/100 mark, rightly deserved. For the price, it cannot be beat. The reason I've given it such a high mark is all things considered. It's beautiful bottling and packaging, it's delicious taste, it's high alcohol content (118proof/59%), and excellent and affordable price of about $58.00 on average per 750ml bottle here in the U.S. It's also available at specialty liquor shops readily, so if you shop the supermarket you likely won't find it. In a way that makes this malt a bit more of a special occasion.
If you are new to Whisky but like flavor and a punch, don't hesitate and get it. If you are a bit shy and like a more relaxed flavor and lower alcohol content (like a Glenfiddich 12), be wary. However, this malt is not the kind that will scare off newcomers, its that smooth and tasty. You can grow into this whisky if you just do a bit of small samples and read up about it and others of its class.
This is one of the finest spirits I've ever had and is my current favorite Scotch Whisky dethroning my previous favorite - Springbank Cambeltown 10yr old (but I still like you Springbank!).
Cheers!
-Carl Garrard
P.S.- A bit more about this whisky. The age isn't advertised because it is a mixture of several aged Aberlour Whisky's- they range from 10-15yrs old, but none under 10 years. All of them are matured exclusively in Spanish Oloroso Sherry Casks. Nothing artificial about this whisky in taste or color.
Aberlour A'Bunadh 750ml Best Price
My first tasting of this whisky did not go so well. I added too much water as it turns out, and found that this whisky (batch 41 @ 59%) drowns easily. Take your time adding water to it. I'd say about a half teaspoon to one full teaspoon per one full shot at the most. When in doubt, just add a few drops and give it time to open up- about 5 minutes, then taste. If you need more water give it a few more drops then repeat.
However, my second tasting went marvelously. I'm actually still feeling the effects of this powerful supercharged beauty as I type. This whisky sells for about $58.00 a bottle here in the U.S. competitively priced, and is absolutely worth every penny.
On the Nose- Toffee and Dates with brown sugar cooked warm peach overtone, but not overly sweet. Spicy just a bit, and a warm soft incredible aroma lingers. Honey, and lots of it. You want to stick your nose in this and not ever pull it out. This is a fine whisky on the nose. There's a hint of overripe banana to it mated with Apricot jam, but always melded with the honey and dates. Get the picture? Warm fruit here, and maple syrup hints. This is a delicious whisky to smell and lives up to it's reputation I can tell you that.
The Taste- After nosing it you are treated with a taste that is quite similar. There's no false advertising here. Deep rich flavor, but very smooth.. at first you might think too smooth.. but give this one time. Let it open up. Lots of sherry here (matured in oloroso sherry casks), and I mean lots. Sherry gives this malt its beauty, and its date and toffee/date/honey base. There's a light spice (never heavy spice but its there). The overripe banana is still there, but the taste adds something to the apricot and honey spice- a tad bit of crisped brown sugar, right out of the oven. Oh it's simply a delight. Not the big bold bad whisky I read about, unless you consider great warm fruit flavor big bad and bold.
It does not dry out the palette and the taste lingers very consistently for a very long time. I'm about 1 minute shy of 15 minute since my last taste of this whisky and I can still feel and taste the effects on my tongue. Leaves the mouth wet but satiated. One of the most delicious whisky's I've tried to date, in fact .. it is.
My Final Mark: I give this whisky a 93/100 mark, rightly deserved. For the price, it cannot be beat. The reason I've given it such a high mark is all things considered. It's beautiful bottling and packaging, it's delicious taste, it's high alcohol content (118proof/59%), and excellent and affordable price of about $58.00 on average per 750ml bottle here in the U.S. It's also available at specialty liquor shops readily, so if you shop the supermarket you likely won't find it. In a way that makes this malt a bit more of a special occasion.
If you are new to Whisky but like flavor and a punch, don't hesitate and get it. If you are a bit shy and like a more relaxed flavor and lower alcohol content (like a Glenfiddich 12), be wary. However, this malt is not the kind that will scare off newcomers, its that smooth and tasty. You can grow into this whisky if you just do a bit of small samples and read up about it and others of its class.
This is one of the finest spirits I've ever had and is my current favorite Scotch Whisky dethroning my previous favorite - Springbank Cambeltown 10yr old (but I still like you Springbank!).
Cheers!
-Carl Garrard
P.S.- A bit more about this whisky. The age isn't advertised because it is a mixture of several aged Aberlour Whisky's- they range from 10-15yrs old, but none under 10 years. All of them are matured exclusively in Spanish Oloroso Sherry Casks. Nothing artificial about this whisky in taste or color.
Carl,
ReplyDeleteHave just read your excellent review of Canon G15 and then noticed this….
I do agree with you about the A'Bunadh. I first tried this several years ago and it's one of my favourites. I've been visiting Scotland for over 40 years and have made it round a lot of distilleries when the weather is too wet to walk but have not yet been to Aberlour. The Aberlour standard 10yr old is a favourite in France…it's a very light, sweetish malt….but I much prefer this powerful beast.
Here in the UK it is still quite hard to find as its released in limited batches. The strongest of these seems to be batch 26 released in 2006.
Expensive here in UK because of tax -about £45-£50 a bottle.
So many malts - so little time !
Enjoy!