Aberlour 25yo 1992-2018 Whisky Broker

19 June 2018

Whiskybroker is a bottler we haven’t noticed before, until last week. I bought this 25yo Aberlour for the insane price of just 75 pounds. How is that even possible? And how good can it be at that price? There’s only one way to find out… is it heaven, or just too good to be true?

This is a single cask bottling from a sherry butt, at natural cask strength (52.7%), non-chill-filtered and no added colouring. My thoughts:

Tasting notes

Nose

Honey and chocolate coated raisins, dried apricots, strawberry, ginger, nutmeg, cookie dough and spicy wood. A good nose, however it reminds me more of Deanston than Aberlour. Good thing we like Deanston a lot.

Palate

Warming, fruity and thick, with hints of apricot marmalade and honey, but before it turns into a syrupy substance, it passes to a more spicy profile with lots of wood and fresh cherries.

Finish

The finish is beautifully long and offers a variation of different layers. It’s warming with lots of nuts (hazelnuts and walnuts), fruity marmalade and honey. Halfway through, it’s changing into brown bread and spicy wood with aromas of cloves and aniseed before it dries into a distinct flavour of raisins, that stays with you for the rest of the hour.

It’s a great dram, and it needs no adding of water, the alcohol is pretty non-existent. It’s nicely layered and offers many good flavours. I expected it to be more heavy and rounded, but it feels very vibrant instead. Which isn’t a bad thing. It’s not a typical Aberlour, so if you’re buying this: keep an open mind and you won’t be disappointed.