Whisky : Aberlour 16 Year; SMWS 54.78 “Sugarcane flowers in Speyside”

Country/Region : Scotland/Speyside

ABV : 60.4%

Cask : Refill Nicaraguan Rum Barrel

Age : 16 Years (Distilled 2 Oct. 2002)

Nose :  Sweet grassy green clovers and freshly mown lawn— almost an earthy sweetness like wheatgrass along with the grassy sugars of fresh cut cane. Supermarket produce section: pears, apples, kiwis, and stone fruits.  Funky notes of wet paint and parmesan cheese rind lurk in the background.

Palate :  Full bodied concentrated fruit juice— Sangria anyone?  Sweet juicy summer fruits, fruity almond marzipan, sticky molasses, and orange infused chocolate candies.  The sweet fruits have a faintly herbal and woody edge to them, the overall impression is one of a melting Rocket/Firecracker Popsicle.

Finish : Lingering woody dryness and loads of sweet fruit punch.

Score : 7

Mental Image : Summer Sangria

Something Similar : Amrut 8 Year Ex-Jaggery Rum (similar sugar cane/juicy tropical fruits)

Something Worse : Bunnahabhain 8 Year SMWS 10.173 (similar fruity/creamy summer popsicle)

Something Worse : Cragganmore 16 Year SMWS 37.119 (similar sangria, more sugar/astringency)

Notes :  I really did not want to include this in our tasting— it sounded way too sweet and I have not typically been a fan of Aberlour.  I was wrong, so wrong, to disrespect this one, it was excellent.  Sometimes it can be nice to be overruled by fans of weird casks and sweeter malts.  The fruity rum cask influence paired wonderfully with the grassy sweetness of the malt.  The body had a nice syrupy quality and the finish just kept going and going.  The gentle wood and spice notes on the palate were a nice background to the sweet fruits and almond pastries.  

This was incredibly popular at the tasting, it was only narrowly edged out by an elder Girvan for ‘Best of the Evening’ and without any votes against it.  Aberlour is still not really my style, but this was great enough that I was happy to keep drinking it and happy to be able to return to it.