Aberlour A'bunadh

I noticed that some of the most highly rated reviews are those pertaining to cask strength releases that kill taste buds and go to one's head immediately. Hmm!! Another excuse for getting lit? (of course!)

Well, for this test of the Three Aberlours, I added 3 parts well water to 7 parts A'bundadh, which brought all three to 43% ABV for a fair comparison. Even with this dilution, the A'bundadh had the most prominent nose of all, which is caramel and leather, similar to oak bourbon casks. By the way, this one is single cask oloroso sherry, wheras the 12 and 16 year old versions are both double cask.

As of this writing, there is only one other single malt that scored better, which is Glenkinchie 12 that tastes nothing at all like this one.

I used to think that bourbons had an amazing range of tastes until I tried single malts. Now I see why there is a need for a Single Malt Flavor Map, because the differences are HUGE, which makes me happy.