On the banks of the Pitilie Burn, where people still crouch down and wash the gravel looking for gold, sits a distillery that has been making honeyed malt since 1898. Aberfeldy calls its whisky the Golden Dram. The colour is only half of what they mean.
Expert description
Aberfeldy 12 Year Old is a Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky matured in American oak ex-bourbon casks alongside refill, re-char and sherry casks, bottled at 40%. It anchors the core range and is almost always the first Aberfeldy anyone tastes.
The distillery stands in Perthshire, just outside the town of Aberfeldy. John Alexander and Tommy Dewar started building it in 1896, barely a few kilometres from where their father was born, and spirit was running by 1898. The plan was never modest: Aberfeldy would supply the heart malt for the blends that John Dewar & Sons built its name on. That job never went away, which is why it took surprisingly long for the single malt to get proper attention in its own right.
The barley malt is unpeated, so there is no smoke here at all. The spirit runs through two wash stills and two spirit stills, double distilled, then spends twelve years in wood. American oak from the bourbon industry supplies vanilla, coconut and the pale honey note Aberfeldy is known for. The sherry casks lay dried fruit and a little spice over the top. Re-char casks are older casks burnt out again on the inside, and they pull the sweetness back up without making the whisky heavy.
Tasting notes
Nose
Pale heather honey and vanilla arrive first, then peeled green apple and pear. Behind that sits a dry toasted note, roughly like toast pulled a moment before it turns too dark, and a lift of orange peel.
Palate
Soft and round without going slack. Honey and malt carry the whole thing, orange and pear keep it fresh, and a light cinnamon spice arrives in the second half. At 40% it is mild, but it is not thin.
Finish
Medium length. The honey hangs on, the spice ebbs away slowly, and a dry malty note is the last thing left.
Specifications
Name: Aberfeldy 12 Year Old Single Highland Malt Scotch Whisky 70 cl 40%
Distillery: Aberfeldy
Region/Country: Highlands, Scotland
Type: Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Age: 12 years
ABV: 40%
Size: 70 CL
Cask type: American oak ex-bourbon casks, refill casks, re-char casks and sherry casks
Distillation method: Double distilled
EAN no.: 5000277000982
Flavour profile
Honey · Fruity · Malty · Soft · Lightly spiced
Did you know?
The Pitilie Burn that feeds the distillery genuinely carries gold. People still pan the gravel along its banks, and Aberfeldy has spent years using that gold as the image for what ends up in the bottle.
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