Aberlour 12 Year old Double Cask Matured

Hard to put down

Reviewed by
Connosr member:

cheeserandyburg

Date:

30th Sep 2012

Reviewer rating:

About this score:

The average score for this whisky is 78.

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Tasting Notes by cheeserandyburg

My first proper single malt, and what a malt it is!

Nose - citrus, bright, fruity, tangy, orangey. It reminded me faintly of grand marnier, but in a good way.

Palate - As the nose indicated, the taste was very consistent but opened up new flavors. Slight oak, woody (very mild), smooth, citrus, fruity, spicey and tangy; sweetness was coating my mouth within seconds (properly from the sherry cask) The second time around I picked up a VERY faint smokiness hiding out in the back; it tries to hide but I definitely picked it up. I know Speyside's aren't known for this, but its there.

With a dash of water, I didn't notice any improvement. On my second glass I kept it neat just like I started. Much more satisfying that way IMO.

Finish - It all goes away after a few seconds. Which is the reason you just gotta have another taste. One thing that did hang around was a peppery zing. But once that went away, nothing was left really.

Overall, being my first proper single malt whisky, I was greatly surprised. (looks like my researched paid off!)

Definitely recommended. I feel the price over here isn't justified. It's not a very complex whisky and the $55+ (CAN) tag could be brought down to $45 (CAN).

Whisky details

Distillery/Brand:

Aberlour

Bottling:

Aberlour 12 Year old Double Cask Matured

Region:

Speyside

ABV:

43%

Colour:

Old Gold

Aberlour 12 Year old Double Cask Matured Hard to put down Reviewed on 2012-09-30T09:41:00 scoring 85/100 by cheeserandyburg

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Comments

Benancio wrote:

It's a decent malt to start with. I did a review on this malt and I forgot to mention that it doesn't take water very well, good thing you picked up on that. I prefer it neat too. I've had a couple of bottles but I've never detected any smoke. 45 dollars would be a fair price for this malt 55 dollars seems a bit hi, you can find better maltz for 55 dollars. I've heard the double wood quality is a bit hit or miss and some bottles are very good and some aren't.

30 September 2012 17:19

cheeserandyburg wrote:

Hey Benancio, thought I was the only one that figured it didn't take that well with water. With that said, last night I did give it another whirl with a bit more water then last time and I found it wasn't that bad. The sweetness and fruitiness came out much more then neat. I've had my eye on the Balvenie Doublewood for some time now. It was originally going to be my first malt, but we have to pay $ 73 a bottle for that here! That's why I settled on this one instead at $55.

01 October 2012 08:26

SMC wrote:

If you're looking to save some coins, try the 10 year old. Like the 12 it's also double cask at 43%, and I find they taste pretty much the same. Unfortunately recently marked up to $46, but IMO the best under $50 single malt at the LCBO.

17 October 2012 01:52

cheeserandyburg wrote:

Hey SMC, I'm definitely going to be picking up some of the 10 year old soon. I noticed it awhile ago, good deal. How does it do with water? better or pretty much the same as the 12?

17 October 2012 04:12

SMC wrote:

I don't take notes, but I remember a similar experience to yours with the 12 where water didn't really do anything. I bought the 12 first and may not have even tried water with the 10.

17 October 2012 22:10

cheeserandyburg wrote:

Good to know!

18 October 2012 03:40

cheeserandyburg wrote:

It's been 3 months since I opened this one (oct 2012). Coming back to it now, I'm getting apples on the nose, with buttery (butterscotch) sweetness and vanilla. I let it sit out about 10mins before nosing and tasting. Some smooth whiffs of vanilla also present in the nose. Goes great with milk chocolate.

07 January 2013 07:40