Aberfeldy Re-charred oak cask finish #412 - 53.6%
From the bottler
The Whisky Cellar is an Edinburgh-based independent Scotch Whisky bottler, selecting casks from its private stock at the peak of their character.
Bottled a parcel of several single casks at a time, each individual series under our ‘Private Cellars Selection’ label is studiously chosen to deliver a wide spectrum of natural colour, aroma and flavour.
“Unconstrained by age or statement of vintage, regionality or cask type… if our tasting panel love the whisky enough, we will bottle it.” – Keith Bonnington, Founder.
Not often found as an ‘indie’ single cask. This has spent nearly two years (of its seven) in a re-charred oak cask, giving full extraction of the wonderfully oaky notes of toasted cereals and citrus.
Only 235 bottles.
Tasting Notes:
Appearance: Deep gold, forms a thin line, slowly developing into small beads before falling as slow, thick, oily legs.
Nose: An immediate hit of pear drops, honey-laced breakfast bars, red apples, lemon zest, a little dried fruit and vanilla.
Palate: A light entrance of mild sultanas, raisins and zesty lemon. Gradually replaced by French apple cake, honey and nutty oak.
Finish: Slightly savoury, nutty oak and a hint of bitter black liquorice. A mild peppery tingle follows.
Summary: I’m going to be honest here and say my experiences with Aberfeldy tend to be quite forgettable. It’s not that it’s a bad spirit, it’s just that it never seems to stand out from the crowd. However, I’m always happy to be proved wrong when it comes to whisky, and this single cask bottling goes some way to doing that. The combination of cereal bars, buttery fruit sponge and zesty citrus are well balanced and work well with the slight bitterness and spice in the finish.
This has the makings of a good summer whisky, and at a price of £50 isn’t going to break the bank. Not my favourite of the session through no fault of it’s own, after all it had some exceptional competition to contend with. Nevertheless, it was still enjoyable and made me look at Aberfeldy in a whole new light.
Part of Series 4 from the Private Cellars Selection, so cask strength, natural colour and non-chill filtered are a given.
Transparency: this sample pack was received free of charge for independent review. The author has no affiliation with the bottler, all opinions are my own and remain completely impartial.
If you would like to know more about The Whisky Cellar and their range of whiskies, please follow the link to the company website.
The Whisky Cellar whiskies are available at Top Whiskies and Master of Malt among other retailers, click the images below to be taken to their websites.
