Aberlour A'bunadh
Chocolate. Fruits. Espresso
0 889
Review by @vrudy6
- Nose~
- Taste~
- Finish~
- Balance~
- Overall89
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This bottle is from batch 47. It was a gift from my wife way back on Valentines day, and now it's when I feel like doing a review for this. I recently did a review of the Four Roses Small Batch, but I've been wanting to take somewhat of a break. I love writing my so called "reviews", but after a while they feel like a chore. And once it becomes that, it's no longer fun.
This is with three teaspoons of water:
Nose: Huge sherry, milk chocolate, molasses, chocolate cake, caramel, almonds and brazils, deep burnt barley hanging around in the background.
Palate: This is deep. Concord grapes and raspberries soaked in papaya syrup. Dried fruits like raisins and figs. What comes next is sharp, dark, 90% chocolate climbing to Mount Everest. It tops-off with a burlap bag full of spices. Espresso coats the roof of the mouth at the apex.
Finish: Long. A sweetness of burnt sugar echoes. Pilon espresso... not Bustelo!...Pilon-- still lingers.
This is my first "cask-strength" ever! I often read that this is not a good batch. But, as a first timer, this is damn good. When first opened it was really strong. But, once it settled in my decanter for two days with the addition of water, it's ready to enjoy.
This is kind of like eating stone crabs. It takes time and effort to break through the shell to get to the meat. With A'bunadh, it takes a while to get to the soft-spot when adding water. But once it's there, it's lush.
@vrudy6, very nice "so-called review". How true that reviewing should remain fun...and that you need to take a break from it when it seems like a chore. I feel just that way too, with some frequency. I have to put it down for awhile until it will be fun again.
As for A'bunadh Batch # 47, I haven't tasted any of it yet, but, with the really great whiskies, of which A'bunadh is certainly one, even most of the lesser batches are still better than 70-90% of the field out there. Expectations are high with A'bunadh, as they are with George T. Stagg, Thomas H. Handy, and most of the special releases from Ardbeg and Glenmorangie. Put into a bigger context people's sometime relative disappointment is largely because so much was expected.