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Aberlour A'bunadh Reviews
- Distillery
- Aberlour
- Style
- Single Malt
- Release
- Batch 15
- Age
- Unspecified
- Alcohol
- 59.6% abv.
- Region
- Scotland: Speyside
- Bottled For
- Distillery
- Buy Now $65.97 WineChateau.com
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Aberlour a'bunadh is a natural single cask strength malt whisky. Taken directly from specially selected sherry casks it is bottled as simply as possible without the use of modern filtering methods or the addition of water.
Aberlour a'bunadh
Review by Anonymous
- Color
- Mahogany
- Nose
- Sour orange peel, port wine, dried leaves, raisins, dried cherry
- Body
- Full body
- Palate
- orange oil, port wine, red fruit
- Finish
- very long and complex finish,tingly, favorite part
Favorite scotch I've encountered to date. Enjoyed without water. Batch #40
Aberlour a'bunadh
Review by Speysider
- Color
- deep orange, almost rosey
- Nose
- Fruitcake, yeast, black cherry
- Body
- Quite heavy. With water, pleasantly oily.
- Palate
- Tart orange, sweet and salty, gingerbread
- Finish
- long, dry, cherry finish.
A super-saturated sherry monster. Full of flavor. Quality casks no doubt. More age would certainly add complexity.
Aberlour a'bunadh
Review by Mr. Peat
- Color
- Reddish brown, like an old copper penny
- Nose
- Vanilla, toffee, sherry, oak, chocolate, hospital waiting room. A very slight hint of...fresh celery?
- Body
- Thick, like nectar.
- Palate
- Strong taste of sherry, rum and oak with vanilla and toffee. A hint of smokyness.
- Finish
- A long, satisfying finish that morphs into a range of complex flavors as it fades.
My description cannot do this whisky justice. There is so much going on flavor wise that I am still discovering new tastes with each session. It's cast strength and needs some water to truly open it up, but definite take your first sip at full strength. Let it sit for about 15 minutes before drinking; you won't be sorry. I will likely go broke drinking this every day, but what a way to go.
Aberlour a'bunadh
Review by Anonymous
- Color
- Deep reddish amber
- Nose
- Bread pudding, rum raisin ice cream, maple syrup and sherry.
- Body
- Thick and oily when neat, like cough syrup. Medium bodied after adding water to taste.
- Palate
- Sherry, rum, and creamy bread pudding.
- Finish
- Very long finish, regardless of how much water added. This will warm you up in a hurry.
Batch 37, 59.6% abv. Disclaimer: I'm an Islay lover for the most part. I've tried to like this one, but of this but too much sherry for me. Mixed 3 parts of this to 1 part Oban 14 and 2 parts water: perfection!
Aberlour a'bunadh
Review by Martin
- Color
- Golden honey sherry
- Nose
- Christmas pudding. Vanilla, maple, candied peel.
- Body
- Full, as if dosed with glycerol.
- Palate
- Complex and rewarding, vanilla, feint smoke, Christmas pudding.
- Finish
- Very warm this one lingering after a minute.
Batch 35 alc. 60.3
Aberlour a'bunadh
Review by Anonymous
- Color
- dark ,dark sherry
- Nose
- woody emptied cask
- Body
- too thick,syrupy
- Palate
- medicinaly nutty
- Finish
- short stinging.lacks complexity.overpowering neat.
I tried a few different times inferior to cask strenth Glenfarclas and Macallan.I like the traditional Aberlour scotch.disappointed in this malt
Aberlour a'bunadh
Review by Anonymous
- Color
- Brownish Red
- Nose
- Amazing nose of sherry, vanilla, chocolate, oranges, maple syrup, apples and quince
- Body
- Full, mouth coating, very slightly oily
- Palate
- Sweet all the way through, hot but not overdone considering 59.7% ABV. Very smooth and sweet...
- Finish
- Hot but long lasting sweetness
Great NAS whisky for the price!
Aberlour a'bunadh
Review by Anonymous
- Color
- Deep Red Copper
- Body
- Full
- Palate
- Chocolate and Orange and Sherry fruit
- Finish
- Long, warm, tingly.
Feel it in yer ears
Aberlour a'bunadh
Review by Dmessmer
- Color
- Reddish amber. Reminds me of the beauty of the Lagavulin 16.
- Nose
- Sweet with clear sherry notes.
- Body
- Thick and coating.
- Palate
- The first thing I noticed was the wonderful creaminess, with just tiny hints of fruit. There are also strong touches of vanilla. And of course, there's undeniable (and difficult to characterize) sherry-ness to it all.
- Finish
- It's definitely got some bite. Reminds me of the aftertaste of a good steak with red wine.
This one needs some water (it's 60% alcohol otherwise), but with the right amount is pure delight. I'm a huge Islay fan, so this is out of my usual comfort zone, but well worth it. This now sits next to the Ardbeg Uigeadail as my favorite Scotch (I can't say which I like better because it's such an apples-to-oranges comparison). I didn't try this for quite some time because I was afraid to invest in a bottle that I might not like, but now this will be a constant in my Scotch cabinet.
Aberlour a'bunadh
Review by Anonymous
- Color
- Intimidating red
- Nose
- Medicinal and extremely masculine.
- Body
- Subtle body but don't let it fool you. This is one gritty whisky.
- Palate
- Vanilla sweetness barely creeps up but the alcohol conquers. Truly for the alcohol veteran. Not for the weak indeed.
- Finish
- You just got sucker punched and met your your match at the bar. Suddenly, your going for round two. Hot, heavy, and intense. Speysider Monster in the mist.
I think I might need some extra work on this one. I wasn't able to adjust on the flavor. I'm the type of person that enjoys his whisky's nice and neat, but this one really needs some water... The flavor is absent considering all you taste is the alcohol...
Aberlour a'bunadh
Review by Carl Hagen
- Color
- Copper
- Nose
- Maple Syrup with a hint of perhaps mandarin. I don't detect much peat or smoke here, just enough to round out the sweetness. None of the harshness that one would expect from the high alcohol content.
- Body
- Thick, syrupy and sensual. The smoothness is not to be believed. Liqueur like! More like I would expect a much older whisky to be.
- Palate
- Maple Syrup again! I love the sweetness, and I would like to pour it all over my pancakes! No excessive alcohol flavours. Very sophisticated and very expensive. If somobody told me they had paid hundreds of dollars, I would believe it. Pure bliss!
- Finish
- Smoooooth, all the way down. A beautiful, rich sweetness lingers in the mouth. No unpleasant alcohol aftertaste or dryness.
Superlative! This is how I have always dreamed that a prohibitively expensive dram would taste. This supersedes any fantasies I have had about perfect whisky. This is pure luxury, unexcelled. I will dream of this at night, and I must have a dram before I go to bed at night!
Aberlour a'bunadh
Review by Anonymous
- Color
- Dark Reddish brown
- Nose
- At 60% alcohol even the nose can burn so I often added a little bit of water to this scotch. Upon first opening this one up it gave off a sweet apple aroma. The bit of water brings out light light smoke.
- Body
- It is full bodied and gives you an enjoyable numbness of the tongue.
- Palate
- It was very complex having flavors of apple, sherry, smoke and butter.
- Finish
- It is a little bit sweet and produces a nice burning tingle. What is especially great about the finish is the smokiness. The spice of the smoke flavor is wonderful because it is not overly peaty.
Aberlour a'bunadh
Review by Insinuendo
- Color
- The robe is dark sherry, with brownish tints. Wood.
- Nose
- A fruity and spicy nose. Smells actually quite like a dessert. Hints of vanilla, root beer, candied cinnamon, dried plum, dark maple. I could go on for pages this nose is so complex and layered.
- Body
- The body is silky rich.
- Palate
- The attack is immediate and intense. Hot and spicy, it reminds me of the small, hard candy red fish my grandma used to eat that tasted of candied cinnamon. Many things are happening as I taste this. There is a certain oaky, toasted taste as it hits the midpalate.
- Finish
- The back end is hot spicy, smoky, sweet tingly and slightly bitter at the tail end. The end is tremendously long. Adding a drop of water brings out the typical single malt aroma, less potent and more fruity. The maple is still rather obvious.
(Batch 28)This is a superior malt. I recommend this to any and every dead serious malt conoisseurs, and all those seeking new horizons and barriers to transgress.
Aberlour a'bunadh
Review by Anonymous
- Color
- Copper
- Nose
- Almost like pure maplewater with a kick
- Body
- Light to medium in body but smooth as silk for the digestion when taken without water - the only way
- Palate
- a marvellous blend of seetness with adequate spice & earthy tones
- Finish
- you know you've taken a good saple of this as it does hang around for a considerable time.....very smooth with it however
I've been introducing my Friends in Canada to this exceptional cask strength for approxiamtely 10 years. without exception, evryone I have introduced tis to is now fully aware of how a cask single malt should taste. Can't much more about it really other than although difficult to find int he Montreal area (only due to the increased patronage to the stuff locally) it maintains a constant presence in my bar. Good stuff.....
Aberlour a'bunadh
Review by Slinky
- Color
- Nearly copper (batch 26)
- Nose
- Solid Sherry with caramel overtone. Even people that don't like whiskey find this it appealing.
- Body
- Very powerful, very smooth, does vary by batch.
- Palate
- Wraps your tongue with a swath of caramel with sherry and a bit of vanilla for me.
- Finish
- The finish is delightfully long, especially after a couple of sips and your tongue is coated. Lasts for minutes there after.
Again, I hate diluting these marvelous super liquids. Very little peat in this dessert-like malt but it goes great with smoke, fruits and smoked meats and cheeses. It's a staple in my bar.
Aberlour a'bunadh
Review by MP
- Color
- Dark Bronze
- Nose
- Apple, Honey, Cherry, Peat
- Body
- Full bodied
- Palate
- Pistachio, Apples, Cherries.
- Finish
- Surprisingly short finish... cool and tidy. smooth.
This review refers to a 60.6% strength, batch 26. Strong on the sherry, and absolutely delicious, slightly sweet, just "melts" on your tongue. An excellent strong, flavourful and smooth whisky. I suggest drinking it neat at 60%, diluting this whisky does not do many favours, some of the aromas are just not as appealing after a dash of water. For the pipesmokers, I felt this whisky went very well with a pipeful of Samuel Gawith's Brown no.4 rope tobacco.
Aberlour a'bunadh
Review by ColoradoDram
- Color
- Dark dark amber.
- Nose
- Sherry, sherry, lamp oil/citronella candle, spicy ginger.
- Body
- Super-oily, ethereal, immediate numbing if not reduced.
- Palate
- Burned/toasted raisins, hot Thai ginger dish, sherry throughout.
- Finish
- Burning hot, but amazingly smooth. Obviously long at 59.6 ABV. Even reduced down to 48% this dram lasts an hour.
Batch 16 (sorry I hadn't seen the separate Batch 16 listing before reviewing here). I suggest a neat nosing. Then reduce this one to 48-50% ABV (if your tongue is not up to the task) to enjoy a nutty grape time that doesn't sacrifice all malt. Not as complex as Glenfarclas 105, but a nudge above overall, IMHO.
Aberlour a'bunadh
Review by TheDippMann
- Color
- Like damp sand
- Nose
- Reminds me of a wet night.
- Body
- Heavy
- Palate
- Sweet like fruit, very similar to mandarin oranges.
- Finish
- Very warm and tingly. Satisfying!
A surprisingly spectacular whiskey. Being 120 proof, it is incredibly smooth. The flavor is rich and doesn't leave me wanting one bit. I would recommend any day as one to at least try once! Everybody (even non whisky drinkers!) that I have introduced this to has taken to it quite well.
Aberlour a'bunadh
Review by Mandrake
- Color
- Deep copper
- Nose
- Orange peel and butter. Cherry and roses.
- Body
- Full and weighty. Creamy.
- Palate
- Absolute sherry monster, lots of fruit. Woody as well, oak just piles on. Sweet orange.
- Finish
- Long and warming
Absolutely extraordinary cask strength, I love everything about it.
Aberlour a'bunadh
Review by Fyoder
- Color
- not quite new penny
- Nose
- fruity, sweet, cherry
- Body
- sparky
- Palate
- spiced wine,iodine,sweet and salty, damn fine
- Finish
- very long and warm
Happy xmas, very warm, jolly good. Don't recommend watering it, even though cask strength.
Aberlour a'bunadh
Review by Rich
- Nose
- Too much alcohol to enjoy its nose without water. So I add a bit. Wow, this IS a sherry monster. Sherry and something almost of the sea. Or even meaty? Not at all in a bad way. After a few seconds it almost smells like a rye.
- Body
- Some guts.
- Palate
- Big sherry, reminds me of an old school Macallan. Some vanilla and pepper which carry through to the finish and intensify. Bring it down enough and you can almost taste Rye, which I know there is not. Something in the sherry wood perhaps?
- Finish
- Lingering sweetness.
Batch 15. I think perhaps I am liking the proverbial "sherry monsters" less than I did when I started with malt, a few years ago. Wish there was more complexity, more balance here. I want some malt in my malt, if you know what I mean. That being said, it is still nice. Note: I am going to give it two extra points for how wonderful the glass smells after it was finished. A bit more complextiy would have helped, perhaps, but this is the price a malt pays for intense sherry, at times.