There is quite a catalogue of the main core range of Aberlour’s developing on the blog. That must mean they have some good stuff in there range or I have developed a fan-boy status. The other reviews are:
After this review the last remaining widely available bottle is the oldest one at 18 years old. One day I might pick up a bottle of that which isn’t bad value just now at £95 although I am sure that was more like £85 12 months ago. With 2018 not long away I am sure this will be a trend that develops into next year with another small bump in prices across all brands.
The Dram
The Aberlour 16 Double Cask is the older brother of the 12 Double Cask. They are both bottled at 40% ABV and were matured in first-fill ex-bourbon casks and ex-sherry casks. Where the 12 year old is around £30 this 16 year old is closer to £50
Previous versions which sadly I have not tasted were at the slightly higher 43% so hopefully this new accountant-friendly version hasn’t suffered too badly from its efficiency savings.
Tasting Notes
Colour – marmalade orange, possibly enhanced or not
Nose – pine cones, orange rind and boiled sweets. Not quite as sweet as the 12 year old but definitely a sweeter Speysider.
Palate – A silky texture with some slightly bitter orange rind. Some raisins and more woody spices. The sweet aspects are generally balanced with spiciness from the wood contact.
Finish – Cinnamon rolls and pine cones along with winter spices of scented candles and winter nights.
Final Thoughts
This is a nice whisky and one which I keep coming back to for another sit down with. It has a lot of the qualities of the 12 year old but without being quite as sweet and quite some one dimensional. There is some nice cask involvement and not too expensive although the strength is really a little too low. There is still a lot of flavour but those extra 3 percentage points would give much better mouth feel and complexity.
Malted 