Aberfeldy 16yo – 40% abv

Info: To finish off a trio of Last Great Malts related reviews, we arrive at Aberfeldy, a distillery I’ve always enjoyed ever since I had some of their whisky directly out of a cask in one of their warehouses whilst on a visit… It was one of the best drams I’ve ever had. Happily, Aberfeldy have now added and extra bottling into their core range and released a 16yo which is finished in Oloroso sherry casks. More info on SWB here.
Colour: Fairly bright and clear gold. Aberfeldy uses colouring although this seems rather more natural than some others in the range so maybe (as I know they would like) it’s now colouring free?
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Aberfeldy 18 Year Old – 40% ABV

Info: Sadly it’s Travel Retail (i.e. airports only). This is the updated packaging for the brand; I like it!
Colour: Golden Caramelly Amber.
Nose: Sweet, aged, medium oaks and puffs of smoke with autumnal fruits and nuts. Very relaxed.
Palate: Instantly rewarding with honeyed sweetness, gentle malt and smooth oak. A touch thin in terms of oils and mouthfeel.
Finish: Fresh going to creamy sweet. Quite long.
Thoughts: It may not blow your socks off with complexity (that’s fine by me!), but I could drink a bottle of this very happily, and may well look one out if I visit an airport! However it would be better with a thicker mouthfeel, i.e. non-chill filtered with a higher ABV. Compared with the 21 year old, I would pick this one as it’s got an easier finish without the tannin tartness, it’s easier to drink and enjoy.

Thanks to my friend Dave over at WhiskyDiscovery for the sample.

Aberfeldy 21 Year Old – 40% ABV

Info: This is the slightly older bottling; since I got this there has been a packaging update, but the liquid reviewed is the same stuff. This bottling was heralded as the Best Mainland Single Malt at the World Whisky Awards 2007.
Colour: A medium dark amber, kind of caramelly.
Nose: A slightly heathery floral note, honied (honeycombe), wisps of smoke, slight orange marmalade tones.
Palate: Smooth, a little thin, easy going. The puffs of smoke are still there among the honey, vanilla and slightly spiced caramelised oranges.
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Aberfeldy – TBWC Batch 1 – NAS – 47%

Colour: Full gold.

Nose: Sweet, malty, slightly salty which tails off after a while revealing woody notes which seem fairly fresh, newly sawn oak. Slight vanilla and a hint of earth.

Palate: Sweeter than the nose suggests, it’s quite smooth for the abv, possibly suggesting some reasonable ages within? Gently spiced and fairly oily with a good mouthfeel (if only the official bottles could be non chill-filtered!). Soft fruits amongst vanilla fudge.
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