Aberlour A'bunadh thoughts

I eyeballed my batch 18 and a batch 33 recently that I was giving to friend. Both unopened, and although I haven't tasted both yet the batch 18 did show a more vibrant red-brick colour (the batch 18 is .2% higher in alcohol. I expect the biggest factor in this to be the quality and vibrancy of the sherry casks used in the marrying of the batches. Otherwise I expect there would be very little difference.

As to water, I'm pretty sure everyone here will tell you to drink it the way you like it best, but go ahead and give adding water a try. Start with one drop, and move up. Then you make the call which way you enjoyed best. Being 100% sherry I find the A'bunadh is certainly already quite smooth for being so young so only a drop or two will suffice to take away some heat from the alcohol.

I probably could have added that the most pronounced effect of adding water is to activate the nose of the whisky. This /can/ increase the perception of flavours in the whisky and make it even more enjoyable.

My first thought when it comes to the A'bunadh is "yes please". I have heard that there can be significant differences between the batches, but I do not think I have heard anything bad said about any of them. Personaly I drink my A'bunadh either straight up, or with at most half a teaspoon of water. The best thing to do in my opinion is to pour yourself 2 small drams, add a tiny amount of water to one, and taste them side by side. Use this as the basis for how you drink it from then on.

The A'bunadh is a whisky I always go back to, since the first one I bought which was batch 29. I've found some subtle differences in taste from different batches although that's comparing from memory rather than having two different batches at home at the same time. I find the bottom of the bottle comes quicker than I replenish the stocks with a new bottle, so the differences maybe bigger than I realise. The main thing is that I haven't had a bad one though and I would rate it as one of my favourites.

In terms of water I'd agree with the advice that has already been given, just try with and without a drop of water and see what you prefer. Personally I like the A'bunadh just as it is in the bottle, overall an excellent whisky.

@dymmig89, My advice about batches of Aberlour A'bunadh: Try them all!

I have had batch 28 opened for quite some time, and have 2 older batches unopened; because I taste sooo many different whiskies, and because sometimes it is just too much trouble to add water (cuz way high ABVs tend to challenge my throat), I don't often get to my A'bunadh.

@chrisrbarrett covered the water issue pretty well. Sometimes I like to compare a cask strength to a 46% ABV bottle. So for A'bunadh, to cut it to about 46% just add about 4ml water to 10ml of A'bunadh. Then compare to say, Glendronach Revival. And BTW, A'bunadh IMO, is quite enjoyable at 46%, and lasts substantially longer ... not to mention the improved economy :) Oh, and you may also want to compare to Macallan Cask !

If you only have a few bottles, and better yet a few friends to join you, I would open them all and start comparing ! Otherwise I would wait for a special occasion, a city-paralyzing snowstorm, or a special visit from the Pope or the Queen.

I thank you all, I tried it with about half a teaspoon of water and found it too much. I am realizing my tastes are straight up with a drop or two of water at most. And as for this whiskey it is amazing. I would recommend it to anyone. It has a warming feeling of no other

I found Aberlour A'bunadh when Batch 19 was on the shelves. Serious stuff for serious times.

I just bought my first bottle, batch #35, at 60.3% abv. If you like Speysiders, it's very good!

At the risk of slightly sidetracking this thread...the LCBO seems to have (depending on the store location) batches 32 and higher (I have seen 36 recently). Of those, is there one that stands out, or falls a little short?