Aberlour A'bunadh

Now my wife and I were in a middle of whisky and chocolate pairings when we came to a whisky that had me excited.

That was Aberlour Abunadh.

If there was EVER a whisky that would suit a nice strong chocolate it would be Aberlour Abunadh.

It's actually the whisky that comes to mind for me when I think of chocolates, so I was REALLY looking forward to this pairing.

Now in the past I have tried a batch of Aberlour Abunadh, specifically the batch before this one, batch 35.

The chocolate to be matched with Aberlour was Cherry Ripe. A kind of cherry and coconut filled candy that I personally don't care for, but I was hopeful.

So I start nosing the whisky glass and the first thing that hits my nose is Abunadh's trademark.

Sherry.

But there are also hints of vanilla and cocoa. Sadly those are quickly drowned in the sherry though.

No big surprise though considering that's what Aberlour Abunadh is...a sherry bomb.

And what does a sherry bomb need?

Lots and lots of sherry.

OK so we got the Abunadh nose. What's the flavors?!

Hahaha silly question! It's sherry, cherries, red vine licorice!

But wait my friends, there's more!

Hints of oranges and vanilla are also to be found inside the glass.

As with my first Aberlour Abunadh, which was batch 35, this is a very yummy whisky.

Not as good as batch 35, but still yum!

The finish is long with the cherries coating my entire mouth and jumping up and down on my palate as they go down my throat!

Now to pair it up with the cherry ripe chocolate.

Here goes!

So I take a bite of the cherry ripe and take a sip of the Abunadh.

I chew and taste and am...

left disappointed.

It's at best a meh.

I reverse the order of operations.

I take a sip then take a bite.

Meh.

I look over at my wife to see maybe if it's just me.

She's looking right back at me and looking very disappointed.

The coconut in the chocolate overwhelms most of the flavors other then cherries.

It's just a mass of cherries.

Not much else.

I get the idea of the pairing, but it's just not working.

I decide to try a bite of the mint chocolate and see how it goes with the Aberlour Abunadh.

A much better pairing with the mint being able to stand up on it's own and say hello to the Aberlour as opposed to being drowned out.

It's quite enjoyable with the mint chocolate, but still not the best pairing. I keep thinking that what's needed is a nice rich dark chocolate, maybe Belgian to go with the Aberlour.

My wife tries the Aberlour Abunadh with the mint and says she thinks it's a better pairing, but again not perfect.

Once again the whisky rating is down below, while the whisky and chocolate pairing score is right here.

Aberlour Abunadh and Cherry Ripe: 43/100 Aberlour Abunadh and Mint Chocolate: 65/100