Aberfeldy Whisky

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  Aberfeldy 12 years old Single Highland Malt Scotch Whisky 70 cl 40%

  Item no.: 22227865391-310

  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.

  Browse our full range of Aberfeldy

  • 1pcs.
    67,00EUR
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  Aberfeldy 16 years old Single Highland Malt Scotch Whisky 70 cl 40%

  Item no.: 22227865391-335

  The Tay valley is green, wet and fairly quiet. Aberfeldy works the same way: no smoke, no rush, just time in wood. By sixteen years the distillery's pale honey has picked up something darker, and the whisky starts to seem like one that has slept long and slept well.

  Expert description

  Aberfeldy 16 Year Old is a Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky matured in 1st fill, refill and re-char bourbon casks and finished for roughly six months in 1st fill Oloroso Sherry casks, bottled at 40%. It sits at the top of the core range, above the 12 and below the rarer releases.

  The buildings outside the town of Aberfeldy were drawn by Charles Doig, the man behind the pagoda roofs on a good share of Scotland’s distilleries, and the Dewar brothers bought the land from the Marquis of Breadalbane. The distillery opened in 1898 with one purpose: to feed the heart malt into the house blends. Bacardi has owned the place since 1998, and it is really only in that period that Aberfeldy has been built up as a single malt brand in its own right.

  The malt is unpeated, so there is no smoke here either. The cask history runs in two stages. First sixteen years in American oak, where the mix of 1st fill, refill and re-charred bourbon casks gives vanilla, honey and a lightly toasted note. Then half a year in 1st fill Oloroso casks, and that is the stay that lays fruitcake, dark chocolate and orange peel across the top. The sherry never quite takes over, but it shifts the centre of gravity noticeably.

  Tasting notes

  Nose

  Honey and orange, then a dry clove-like spice a moment later. Ginger sits behind it, together with raisins and a hint of cake batter.

  Palate

  Fuller than the age and the 40% would suggest. Fruitcake, marzipan and milk chocolate first, then orange turning steadily more bitter. The spice is soft and nutty rather than sharp.

  Finish

  Long and mouth-coating. Dark chocolate and bitter orange hold on while the sweetness pulls back, leaving something close to dry.

  Specifications

  Name: Aberfeldy 16 Year Old Single Highland Malt Scotch Whisky 70 cl 40%
  Distillery: Aberfeldy
  Region/Country: Highlands, Scotland
  Type: Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky
  Age: 16 years
  ABV: 40%
  Size: 70 CL
  Cask type: 1st fill, refill and re-char bourbon casks, finished in 1st fill Oloroso Sherry casks
  Distillation method: Double distilled
  EAN no.: 5000277000579
  

  Flavour profile

  Sherry matured · Honey · Fruitcake · Orange · Spiced

  Did you know?

  Aberfeldy was built as a supplier, not as a star. For close to a century almost everything it made went straight into blends, and the first official single malt from the distillery only reached the market in 1991.

  Browse our full range of Aberfeldy

  • 1pcs.
    120,00EUR
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  Aberfeldy Pitilie 9 years old Dram Mor Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky 70 cl 54,8%

  Item no.: 22227865480-67093-0235dmp

  The label does not say Aberfeldy. It says Pitilie, the name of the burn running past the distillery, and that is the kind of cover name independent bottlers use when a distillery would rather not see its own name on a bottle it did not fill itself.

  Expert description

  Aberfeldy Pitilie 9 Year Old from Dràm Mòr is a Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky finished in a 1st fill Buffalo Trace barrel and bottled at cask strength 54.8%. It was distilled in 2015, bottled in 2024 as part of the Dràm Mòr spring releases and came out at 240 bottles from cask number 247.

  Dràm Mòr is run out of Dumbarton by husband and wife Kenny and Viktorija Macdonald. They began as an export agency for Scottish brands and only moved properly into bottling at the end of 2019. The approach is straightforward: single casks, cask strength, no chill filtration and no added colour. You get the cask as it stood, with nobody tidying it up along the way.

  The spirit comes from Aberfeldy in Perthshire, where the barley malt is unpeated and the stills run twice, so there is no smoke in this at all. Nine years is young for a Highland malt, but the finish in a 1st fill Buffalo Trace barrel does a lot of the work. American oak straight out of bourbon service is far more active than a cask on its third or fourth outing, and it pulls the whisky towards something creamy and sweet rather than sharp and youthful.

  Tasting notes

  Nose

  Chewy caramel and vanilla first, opening slowly onto ripe peach flesh and old-fashioned wine gums.

  Palate

  The caramel carries on and turns sweet and creamy. Butterscotch and syrup sponge with a velvety custard laid over the top. There is power behind the 54.8%, but it does not bite.

  Finish

  Delicate and lingering. The layers melt together and settle softly rather than snapping shut.

  Specifications

  Name: Aberfeldy Pitilie 9 Year Old Dràm Mòr Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky 70 cl 54.8%
  Distillery: Aberfeldy
  Bottler: Dràm Mòr
  Region/Country: Highlands, Scotland
  Type: Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky
  Age: 9 years
  ABV: 54.8%
  Size: 70 CL
  Cask type: Finished in a 1st fill Buffalo Trace barrel
  Non-chill filtered: Yes
  Natural colour: Yes
  Distillation method: Double distilled
  Distilled: 2015
  Bottled: 2024
  Number of bottles: 240
  Edition: Single Cask, cask number 247
  

  Flavour profile

  Caramel · Vanilla · Peach · Creamy · Cask strength

  Did you know?

  Dràm Mòr did not start out as a bottler at all. Kenny and Viktorija Macdonald spent years running an export agency for Scottish brands, and it was only in 2019 that the company changed its name and began buying and bottling casks itself.

  Browse our full range of Aberfeldy

  • 1pcs.
    107,00EUR
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  Aberfeldy That Boutique-Y Whisky Company 21 years old Single Highland Malt Scotch Whisky 50 cl 48,9%

  Item no.: 22227865479-1106-197280141

  The label looks like a page torn out of a comic, and it is easy to miss what is actually in the bottle. This is twenty-one year old Aberfeldy. On the label the whisky writer Ian Buxton stands panning for gold in the Pitilie Burn, exactly where the distillery draws its water.

  Expert description

  Aberfeldy 21 Year Old from That Boutique-Y Whisky Company is a Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky matured in oak casks and bottled at 48.9%. It was released in 2018 as Batch 2 in an outturn of 261 bottles and has long since sold out at the bottler.

  That Boutique-Y Whisky Company is an independent bottler that started in 2012 and belongs to Atom Brands in England. They do not distil a drop themselves. They buy casks, bottle them in 50 cl format and commission illustrators for labels that usually hide an in-joke about the distillery. This one was their second Aberfeldy and the first to carry an age statement on the label.

  The spirit comes from Aberfeldy in Perthshire, where the malt is unpeated and the stills run twice. At twenty-one years the pale honey the distillery is known for has drawn together into something denser and more syrupy, and the wood has had time to add both spice and a very faint smoky edge. The 48.9% is higher than the distillery's own official bottlings, and you feel it in the weight.

  Tasting notes

  Nose

  Cinnamon and orange zest, with something behind it like the crust on a cake straight out of the oven. A very faint smoky edge sits on the outside, more old cask than peat.

  Palate

  Syrupy and rich. Pancakes with maple syrup, melted butter and small pieces of dark chocolate. The spice builds slowly and drags the whisky away from pure sweetness.

  Finish

  Long and spiced. The sweetness drops away and leaves a dry, almost savoury cooking spice with a touch of cayenne.

  Specifications

  Name: Aberfeldy That Boutique-Y Whisky Company 21 Year Old Single Highland Malt Scotch Whisky 50 cl 48.9%
  Distillery: Aberfeldy
  Bottler: That Boutique-Y Whisky Company
  Region/Country: Highlands, Scotland
  Type: Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky
  Age: 21 years
  ABV: 48.9%
  Size: 50 CL
  Distillation method: Double distilled
  Bottled: 2018
  Number of bottles: 261
  Edition: Batch 2
  EAN no.: 5052598134365
  

  Flavour profile

  Syrupy · Spiced · Fruity · Orange · Faintly smoky

  Investment potential

  Medium. Twenty-one years of age, 261 bottles and a batch long gone from the bottler make it hard to replace, and the labels from That Boutique-Y Whisky Company have a collector following of their own.

  Did you know?

  The half bottle is deliberate. That Boutique-Y Whisky Company bottles almost its entire range in 50 cl because they would rather people tasted a lot of different casks than spent the whole budget on one.

  Browse our full range of Aberfeldy

  Browse our full range of That Boutique-Y Whisky Company

  • 1pcs.
    294,75EUR