When you say Aberlour and sherry, the first whisky that comes to mind is the A’Bunadh of course. They have a long history of double maturation and nowadays they seem to like small batch bottling. For instance Aberlour 14 Years is bottled with a prominent batch number. Now the Aberlour 18 Year Old resurrected as Aberlour 18 Years Double Sherry Cask Finish and also comes in small batches. We’re trying Batch #001.
The ABV of 43% is quite low, but on the other hand it seems to be uncoloured and unchill-filtered. Fair enough.
Aberlour 18 yo – Double Sherry Cask Finish (43%, OB 2022, Batch #001, first-fill PX + Oloroso sherry casks)
Nose: modern sherry seasoning. Juicy rum-soaked raisins, with cherries, berries and fresh plums. A nice sourness and orange peels. The fruitiness and vibrancy hint towards cognac. Then slightly darker aromas emerge in the background, think chocolate and toffee. Vanilla stands out too. Hints of tobacco and mint. Very clean, fresh and bright, absolutely faultless.
Mouth: still a bit cognac-infused, with an oily edge. Vanilla and stewed berries, as well as raisins, plums, blood oranges and grapes. Pretty rich considering the modest ABV. Then hazelnuts, almonds and chocolate come out, with polished wood, drops of coffee and mild all-spice. Very lively again.
Finish: medium, with berries as well as fresh citrus notes. Almond and cocoa.
A bright and fruity Aberlour that reminds me of the best (modern) Tamdhu expressions. Perfect designer whisky. It could easily become one of my daily drinkers, or a highlight in a sherried whisky line-up. The nicest Aberlour I’ve had in a while and the price is reasonable too (depending on your country). As often with this kind of series, the first batch is setting a high standard, let’s see where it goes after this.
It seems quite limited and hard to find in the UK (Aberlour is always highly focused on the French market), you could try Whiskysite.nl or LMdW for instance.