Whisky : Aberlour 9 Year SMWS 54.64 “Vanilla snog at the laundrette”

Country/Region : Scotland/Speyside

ABV : 59.6%

Cask : 2nd Fill Ex-Bourbon

Age : 9 Years (Distilled May 8, 2008)

Nose : Sweet malty grains with vanilla and caramel.  Breakfast cereal buffet of unlimited honey nut cheerios.  A fried cream filled pie: Japanese adult cream pie (no that’s not porn, and yes that was a real product).  Smell of a new handbag and durian fruit— the maltiness gives way to stale dirty laundry.  

Palate : Florals and fruits; toffee, red apple, and jolly ranchers.  Beyond fruity candy is a sweet but astringent soapiness.  Lavender hand soap, laundry soap, and linen— the nose may have been dirty laundry, but this is so fresh and so clean.

Finish : Medium length flowery soap and clean linen.

Score : 3

Mental Image : Tide Pod Challenge

Something Better : Balmenach 8Y; Exclusive Malts (similar malty breakfast cereal, more berries)

Something Better : Bunnahabhain 10Y SMWS 10.127 (similar linens, less soaps, more caramelization)

Something Similar : Suntory Ao (similar jolly ranchers, candy, and florals, no soap, less body/finish)

Notes : I can definitely see someone enjoying this… though I did not.  It was loaded with sweet florals, candies, and fruits— all of which made it way too saccharine and sweet for me.  A few drops of water tamped down some of the youthful spirit and surfaced some lovely citrus notes.  However, I did not quite care for the way those combined with the background soapiness to create an almost creamy citrus body lotion.  Certainly a weird dram— I thought it made for an excellent high ball and it was fun to play with for some home blending experiments.  Overall, this would be an easy pass for me, while the nose was nice and the palate had a good presence, the flavor profile was not to my taste.