Aberlour a’bunadh, What batch to buy?

I have just purchased my first A'bunadh and it was also batch #44, I've only had a chance to have one small dram so far, but I have to say it is nothing short of spectacular. Hope this helps for anyone else is interested in the more recent batches.

monitorpop, if you go here www.whisky-monitor.com/results.jsp there are reviews for almost every bottle.

I have a question for all of you A'bunadh drinkers. I have come across a batch 11 that was given to me......quite frankly I don't know if I am interested. I thoroughly enjoy Whiskey!! Usually mixed with Soda or water. I am afraid to open this because if I don't like it, I couldn't sell it. I can tell the difference between a Crow Royal and our local $11.00 for a liter of Whiskey. After that though, Crown Reserve/ Black....they all taste the same. What are your thoughts on the bottle and if I chose not to drink it; could I sell it?

@WhiskeyMan I say keep it until such a time that you're confident that you could appreciate it - i.e. at a point where you're really enjoying sherried single malts and cask strength whiskies. And, if you never get to that place - then I'm sure you'll find no shortage of buyers for an older (and unavailable) A'bunadh batch!

@systemdown Totally agree! Don't just drink it because you have it. Save it until one day you love single malts or say 5 or 10 years down the road you want some cash then Abunadh will be worth it for sure!

@WhiskeyMan; I have a simple plan! Buy a bottle of a'bunadh batch #44, try it with a little spring water (say about 3 small teaspoons in a 2oz. dram); if you like it, sweet! Batch #11 probably shades #44 by the smallest of margins and is a similar style. If you like #44, you will love #11 but you must give #44 time in large glass (decanter or similar) to mellow out (open up): About 2 months will see this fine Whisky start to 'sing' - Of course, you can nibble away at it after a week or so; actually, it's not a bad idea to see how it blossoms over time and that a'bunadhman speaketh not with fork tongue!

Good Luck!

I tried batch #45 the other day (not sure if it's out yet). It was excellent - I will be stocking up...

I really enjoyed the 44. Not sure if I'll buy a higher batch for a while as I'm running out of room . I have 11 different batches and about 14 bottles so it takes up a lot of room, and I can't seem to average more than a bottle a year including sharing. The 44 was a treat because I opened a day after my 44th birthday. I think I'll try to snag a 50. By the time I hit that birthday I'll be buying a batch for my 80 th. birthday.

A'bunadh is impossible to find in Taiwan. The only place that has it only has batch 16 available. I've only found a couple of reviews out there for batch 16 and apparently it's known as one of the lesser batches. Is that the case? Has anyone run across the 16 before? How was it?

@hunggar: We never saw #16 here in my state (Queensland) but if you ever come across #19 embrace it with open arms - We had a few bots; 'wish we had more. a'bunadh #19 is a magnificent 'drop'.

@hunggar

This is a prime situation where "less is more". Or, "lesser" is as good as or better than your average single malt. The only disaster batch I've heard of was the 41.

the 43 will forever remain a mystery because it was not released to the public.

I would love to hear if the 42 was actually the answer to life the universe and everything.

And I look forward to reading reviews of the 45. I snagged one recently but birthday number 45 isn't for almost a year.

By the way,

I've "followed" the batch numbers recently but I've only seen batch 45 released this year. Usually there are 3-4 batches per year. Does anyone know why the slow-down? Are they having difficulty with stocks or are the batches getting bigger?

Have just bought my first a'Bunadh batch number 48. Can also get 44,45, or 49. Any words of advise?

@Tom92 from reviews I've read, the lower batch # the better, though ymmv. But the #45 I have is really good and general consensus that it's pretty terrific.

@Tom92

I've heard the 48 was not as good as some recent batches. I know people have "gushed" about the 45 and it IS good, but I actually preferred the 44 so I would definitely recommend it. I've not tried the 49 but I also hear it's good.

Contemplating getting #44,#45, and #49 as well. Would be around $500 NZD. Worth it or not?

@Tom92 Sweet, fancy Moses that's a lot of dough! I thought our CDN prices on A'Bunadh were terrible. I woudn't ever tell anyone how to spend their money, but, no. Just, no.

@AdamH

So you WOULD tell people how not to spend their money, just not how TO spend it. I agree though, that's pricy for A'Bunadh. But it's all relative...lamb is probably cheap.

But maybe you could tell your government no to all the pre-election (and now the in election) bribing they are doing....

@Nozinan @Tom 92 Sorry I wouldn't spend $500 on any 3 whiskies let alone 3 NAS bottles from the same distillery, same release with only minor batch variation.

@AdamH fair enough. I did forget to write #46 in there as well. So it was the four bottles(#44,45,46,49) not just the three.

@AdamH NAS?

@Tom92 No age statement. It's a blend of old and young whisky, can't really say what proportion is of older (over 10yr) to younger (less than 10 yr). Glenfarclas has a cask strength sherry bomb in the "105" that is a stated 10 yr old.

Yeah, I'd spread that $500 love around a bit.

@AdamH

Sadly, the Glenfarclas 105 has gone NAS. I confirmed this with the distillery. They said they needed some younger barrels to keep the ABV at exactly 60%.

@Nozinan That's right, I remember reading rumours about that. I still have an unopened 105 10 yo.

@Nozinan @Tom92 In spite of NAS, I still prefer A'Bunadh to formerly 10yr 105.

@AdamH. I actually bought a bottle of the 10 YO 105 BECAUSE it was going NAS. I had tried a 50cc miniature and found it a bit rough. I would take most batches of a'Bunadh over the 105, but it will be a nice bottle of history...

At the risk of sounding like a cheerleader, buy any one you can get your hands on. Love this brand and have had many different a'bunadh expressions and not been disappointed by any. Now that also takes batch variation into account, with that said you are sure to find one that will be great. Hope this was helpful. (: