Back to the origin...

Today, let’s talk about one of the first whisky which made me up my fascination for whiskies: The Aberlour A’bunadh (a-boona), A’bunadh meaning “the origin” in Scottish Gaelic.

Tasted for my first time at the distillery, appreciated several times, I recently had a glass in the Café Brun in Bordeaux.

Let’s have a dram together. As usual, a great trip! …

A’bunadh is a cask-strength single malt whisky from the Aberlour Distillery (Pernod Ricard) in the Speyside region (Scotland).

This cask-strength is produced as the 19th century traditional way of making whiskies, exclusively matured in Olorosso sherry barrels, unchilled and unfiltered.

It has no age statement. Each batch is blended from 5 to 25 years old barrels and each batch carries a unique number, mentioned on the label. Thus, depending from which batch the elixir come from, colour, nose, palate and the ABV vary. For example, the ABV can oscillate from 59% to 63%.

What does it taste like?

Tasting notes

Colour: Dark amber/Deep copper

Nose: Powerful. Spicy and fruity. Citrus fruits notes. Sherry, winey notes. 

Palate: Well balanced. Citrus fruits (orange), black cherry and dried fruits notes. Ginger, dark chocolate. Spiced and woody. Intense Olorosso sherry notes.

Finish: Long and warming. Chocolate, honey. Oaky and spicy notes.

A superb after-dinner malt, complex and powerful for sherried lovers. 
To match also with an onctuous molten chocolate cake (fondant au chocolat)

It’s also a very good value for money for a cask-strength malt whisky. An advice, always have a bottle of it in your whisky collection or some if you want to compare the different batches.

I really recommend the Aberlour Distillery Experience, an excellent visit where you can unbolted your own Aberlour whisky, direct from the cask (Sherry or Bourbon).

Slainte!

An enjoyment! A great Islay Cask Strength...

Several weeks ago, we had the chance to taste an impressive classic Islay malt whisky at Art & vins, Bordeaux, the Laphroaig 1995, 16 years old, Cask 48, Signatory vintage. This complex whisky matured from the 4th of April 1995 to the 16th of May 2011 in a single bourbon barrel. 

“You love it or you hate it!” As their ancient advert said, there is these two possibilities, you have certainly discussed once about this subject with some connoisseurs. Direct, without flourish, this powerful marine and peated malt whisky, create a real explosion of aromas in your mouth. Marin, because the distillery is literally locate on the waterfront. Laphroaig whiskies are renowned for their surprising medicinal taste, which make them unique.

Signatory Vintage?? It’s an independent bottler. Signatory Vintage’s goal is to offer a wide range of whiskies some of which are not even bottled by the proprietary distillery. This allows malt enthusiast to sample the huge variety of subtle differences that occur between casks.

To add proof of authenticity to their cask strength bottlings, Signatory always include the cask numbers, date of distillation, date of bottling and number of bottles produced.

Tasting notes

Colour: Bright golden yellow

Nose: Rich, very aromatic. Peaty, marine. Medicinal. Tannic oak. Mango, fruit-flavored candies.

Palate: Intense, well balanced. More and more peaty with ocean breeze. Spices such as clove and nutmeg.

Finish: Long. Peated with seaweed and charred wood taste. Ripe fruits and exotic fruits aromas.

ABV: 59,4%

Wonderful! To drink reading a book during a snowfall night...

Only slight snag is the price: 105/120€…

Sláinte!