Distillery Name: Aberlour Distillery
Distillery Location: Aberlour, Moray (Speyside)
Link to Distillery Website: https://www.aberlour.com/en-us/
Tours: https://www.maltwhiskydistilleries.com/aberlour/
Tour/Tasting/Experience: The Best of Aberlour

The Aberlour distillery was founded in 1879 by grain dealer James Fleming. Aberlour sits in the confluence of the Lour and Spey rivers in Speyside (also known as Strathspey).

Aberlour means “the mouth of the chattering burn” in Gaelic. Scots use the word “burn” to refer to a water stream or small river.

The distillery is known for creating classic expressions of single malts using ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks. However, the use of the latter is their specialty, considered by many experts as one of the sherry maturation powerhouses in Scotland. For example, Aberlour A’bunadh, (meaning “The original”) is an intense and rich single malt bottled at cask strength with fruit cake flavors that created a global cult following and continues to delight fans that enjoy whiskies with a heavy sherry flavor profile.

Aberlour Distillery offers other experiences in addition to the one I attended. These are:

• The Single Cask Experience: A sample of four single casks malts aged in American and European oak. All cask strength whiskies from the Distillery Reserve Collection.
• The Secret Speyside Tasting: A flight of five specialty-selected, matured expressions from the Secret Speyside Collection. These whiskies pertain to distilleries that rarely bottled their whiskies as single malts.
• The A’bunadh Collective Experience: The most premium distillery experience for fans of the A’bunadh series. A trip through time with five different batches of Aberlour A’bunadh.

The Best of Aberlour Experience

In this tasting, we explored five Non-Chill-Filtered expressions of Aberlour, from classics to distillery-exclusive single malts. The first step in the tasting was to sample the new make spirit (without cask maturation) from Aberlour that comes out of the pot still at 70% ABV and enters the cask at 63.5% ABV. As you would expect, the flavor profile is fruity.

Aberlour 10-Year-Old ($)

This whisky is matured in ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks for ten years and finished for six months in French Oak (Limousin casks), then bottled at 40% ABV.

This malt has a fruit-forward flavor profile with notes of honey, vanilla, and light sherry flavors (i.e., Nutts, cinnamon, and raisins), not even close to a sherry bomb but very enjoyable.

A light dram to warm up your taste buds. Sadly, this expression was discontinued last year and is now only available in France, Aberlour’s biggest market.

Score: 3.25/5

Aberlour 12-Year-Old ($$)

This single malt is also matured in ex-bourbon and Oloroso sherry casks for 12 years with a more prominent sherry flavor of baking spices accompanied with the same honey and vanilla notes from the previous malt plus wood spice and leather notes. The 12-year-Old feels richer than the 10-Year-Old malt, and the 48% ABV is probably the reason.

Score: 3.5/5

Aberlour 11-Year-Old Distillery Exclusive ($$)

A single malt only available at the distillery, bottled at cask strength (49.4% ABV) and matured for 11 years in ex-bourbon casks. Here the malt tastes closer to bourbon while keeping its malty DNA. A rich expression flavourful whisky with plenty of classic flavors of honey, caramel, and oak spices.

Score: 3.75/5

Aberlour 11-Year-Old Distillery Exclusive ($$)

Another distillery exclusive single malt, bottled at cask strength (49.4% ABV) and matured for 11 years in Oloroso sherry casks. A beautiful classic sherry flavor profile of rich chocolate, raisins, nuts, and spices took me one step closer to the epic Aberlour A’bunadh. A more intense and tasty malt than the 10-Year-Old malt I could not resist in the gift shop.

Score: 4/5

Aberlour 17-Year-Old Reserve Collection ($$$$)

The oldest malt in the tasting was aged in a first-fill Oloroso sherry cask for 17 years and bottled at 58.5% ABV on July 14, 2020. This limited edition malt is the most sherry intense of all whiskies, with a flavor profile of sweet and spicy notes. A single malt that can use a few drops of water to make it more manageable. The alcohol level was too intense for my taste, but overall a great expression of Aberlour.

Score: 3.75/5

What I liked about the experience 🙂

• Tasting whiskies at cask strength and one that has been discontinued, except in France, is a good experience for a modest price.
• A classy and cozy Victorian tasting room invites you to focus on the whiskies, relax and enjoy the experience.

What I did not like about the experience 🙁

• Nothing. I will come back.

Check more from my trip to Scotland, including many visits to other distilleries (click here).

Score: 3,75/5⭐

Legend
$50 or less $
$51-$100 $$
$101-$150 $$$
$151 or more $$$$