There are whiskies from more than 115 Scottish distilleries on this blog and yet today we’re trying one that hasn’t featured yet, an Aberfeldy 1994. A series of sister casks (all #401x or #402x) have been bottled by Gordon & MacPhail, Signatory, A.D. Rattray, Van Wees… before.
Aberfeldy belongs to the Dewar’s group and more than any other group, they’re focused on blend production. This is why there aren’t many official single malt bottlings (a 12yo and 21yo) nor many independent releases. Things are starting to change though, as recently a couple of single casks (the first ever) were released. Note that in 1994, Aberfeldy was still owned by Diageo.
Aberfeldy 16 yo 1994 (46%, Mo Òr 2011, bourbon hogshead #4016, 460 btl.)
Aberfeldy 16 yo 1994 (46%, Mo Òr 2011, bourbon hogshead #4016, 460 btl.)Nose: a nice surprise. It’s fresh and fragrant but also quite assertive. Nice fruity notes: lemon candy, pineapple, pear, tangerine. Sweet marzipan. Some fresh oak and leather notes. Quite a lot of heather honey as well. Bright and crisp.
Mouth: creamy and sweet. Fruity notes again, vanilla cake, juicy barley. Honey. Sweet almonds. Cinnamon. Then moving towards oaky notes, a little ginger. Grows “greener” and a tiny bit mineral over time.
Finish: quite long, with some caramel sweetness and a herbal oakiness, fading to an earthy bitterness in the very end.
Good whisky. Sweet, fruity, a nice after dinner malt. Around € 75 for a 50 cl bottle.
Score: 87/100