E-pistle #02/01 - An interview with Mark 'Bruichladdich' Reynier
by Serge Valentin, France

"Yes, there will be some Bruichladdich aged in Yquem casks!"

Introduction:

I first met Mark Reynier ten years ago, in London and I have fabulous memories of this meeting… full of drams of Springbank.  Since that day, Mark has made his way in the world of whisky. First, with his friends Simon Coughlin and Gordon Wright, he started Murray McDavid - maybe one of the best independent bottlers. Then, he bought the Bruichladdich distillery, on Islay.

On March 11th, 2002, I had the opportunity to meet Mark Reynier again, thanks to my dear old friend Paul Adam. We met at La Reserve's headquarters, in Knightsbridge, London. Johannes had the excellent idea to have me interview Mark, and Paul agreed it was a good idea.  I had thought this would be quite a gentle chat about this and that, about Islay, about peat, about sherry etc. But as Mark is a man of energy, the interview turned out to be full of passion.  I love this man. Mark has some French ancestors (together with Scottish and Finnish) so he answered all my questions in French, and his French is excellent!
Here goes:
 

Q1 - Mark, what's your explanation for the recent boom in single malt scotch whisky?

Independent bottlers!  Without them, only a few single malts would be available. Macallan, Glenlivet… The distillery proprietors wanted to focus on volume, thus on blended whiskies. In the 70's, all the distillers knew that United Distillers or other big companies were buying their whiskies "cash on delivery". As soon as the spirit was distilled, it was delivered to the blenders, and paid for.

Those were easy times for the distillers. But suddenly, when the oil crisis occurred, the big companies stopped buying these whiskies, and a lot of distilleries got into big trouble, and almost fell into bankruptcy. Then, it became very easy for the big names to buy starving distilleries.

Q2 - Just because the distilleries had financial problems?

Yes.  It was much easier for the blenders to buy the distillery, rather than the whisky!  That's what Allied did when they bought Johnston in 1975.  Johnston was the owner of Laphroaig!  Furthermore, the big groups bought distilleries and closed them, just to avoid any competitor buying them instead.

Q3 - All right, but how did the independent bottlers step in?

Well, at the beginning of the 80s, another economic crisis was looming.  So, the big companies' accountants suddenly said "Look, we've got a whole bunch of old Port Ellen casks (for example) in our warehouses.  The distillery's closed.  Sell them!"  Some bottlers bought them because they were looking for aged single malts to produce premium blends - 18 years old, 21 years old etc.  It became quite easy to buy casks, but you had to buy at least 25 or 50 casks at the same time.

Q4 - You mean, you can't buy only one or two casks from United or Allied?

Forget it!  What the best independent bottlers do is to buy, let's say 50 casks of Ardbeg. Then the three or four best ones are selected.  That's what we do at Murray McDavid's. The remaining casks are sold to blenders, or to less "serious" independent bottlers. You know, many independent bottlers don't even sample the whiskies before they buy the casks.
The charming old lady who ran Cadenhead's in Aberdeen, for instance, used to buy any cask somebody would try to sell to her, just because she couldn't say no!  But I must say that, even if you're talking about a "boom", which is right in a certain sense, the whisky industry remains very conservative.  It's covered with dust. The old stocks will disappear - never to be replaced, as many distilleries no longer exist.

In short: the world of whisky has its head in its ass!

Q5 - Is it really that bad?

Look, let me give you an example. A long time ago, the new-make whisky was put into casks at 70% alcohol by volume. That's the way it should be done, because it's the natural way to do it. But guess why everybody's reducing the whisky to 65% nowadays?  Just because accountants once said:  "We can't avoid a certain portion of the whisky evaporating while in the cask, but we would prefer water to do so, rather than alcohol!" 

Q6 - But your Murray McDavid bottlings are not cask strength.

True.  We seldom find casks which deserve to be bottled at cask strength.  I think most cask strength bottlings you can find on the market are bad ones.  Moreover, when you add water to them before drinking, the whisky and the water stay apart, they don't unite, and it's undrinkable. I know the collectors like cask strength bottlings, but most bottlers bottle as "single cask-cask strength" because it's easy and they know there are 250 collectors around the world who will buy every single bottling from one cask just to look at them.
Murray McDavid bottles whisky for drinking.

Q7 - By the way, who is Mr. Murray McDavid ?

Well, he doesn't exist. Murray and McDavid were the names of my maternal grandparents.  Both families were involved in Scotch and I named the Company in honour of them.
Reynier doesn't sound too Scottish!

Q8 - All right, let's talk about Bruichladdich now. You recently acquired the distillery. Were there any other distilleries you had your eye on at the time?

Yes and no. But let me tell you how all this happened. It was the luck of the draw really and all began in the 80s - 1986 - when I was 24. At that time, I was working in my father's company.  One day, I was visiting the London Wine Trade Fair.  The event took place in the City of London for the very first time, and it was a big failure.  I was walking in the empty aisles, when suddenly, a large hairy man with a big beard came up to me.  He said I could win a £1000 bottle of whisky.  I just had to give my business card to him.  But I hadn't any!  So, the guy gave me one of his own cards, so that I could write my address on it.  That's what I did, and then, I put the card in the hat.

Q9 - Who was this guy?

Wait! On the same day, I was sipping a glass of wine on the roof, at my place in London.   It was the beginning of the evening.  The telephone rang and it was John Milroy.  He told me I had won the £1000 bottle, and I had to come to his shop, in Soho, to get it. It was a Springbank 40 year old. I had a wonderful time talking with John - I know almost nothing about whisky, being a wine man.  He helped me discover two excellent malts:  Springbank and Bruichladdich.  That was my first contact with Bruichladdich, and it was love at first sight!

Q10 - So, you decided to buy the distillery at that time?

Of course not.
I hadn't much money at that time, and I hadn't even dreamed about that. But what I did was to start my own wine and spirit merchant company, La Reserve, in Knightsbridge. And I instantly decided to concentrate on two specific malts:  Springbank and Bruichladdich, which became the flagship malts of La Reserve. I was among the first merchants who pushed these malts quite heavily in the market.

Two or three years later, I decided to tour West Scotland with my brother, playing all the island golf courses - by bicycle!.  One day, we arrived at Springbank, where I met Gordon Wright for the first time. He said to me "If you go to Islay, go and see my friend Jim McEwan, at Bowmore."  That's what I did - and toured the Distillery.  We got on like a house on fire.  Jim was so kind, so enthusiastic!  I remember, we were at Bowmore together, and we could see Bruichladdich on the other shore, so I decided to go there. The gates were closed - there was no way in!
We took our bikes, and we carried on with our trip. 

A year later, I went there again, with my father and my brother.  We were in front of the main gate, which was closed, but we saw a guy inside.  I shouted, "I buy a lot of your malts and I'd like to visit the Distillery."
Do you know what the guy answered?
He said "Fuck off!"
That was my first experience with the Bruichladdich distillery itself.

Q11 - So, you decided to buy the distillery in spite of this very rough experience?

Mmm... In fact, both Simon (my partner) and I were fond of the maritime flavours, whiskies that are aged by the sea - what we call 'coastal'. You know, a lot of distilleries that are near the sea have their main warehouses inland.  For instance, Caol Ila sends its whisky by the next ferryboat to Glasgow, as soon as it's distilled!

Anyway, each January from 1990, I used to write to Allied Distillers asking to buy the Ardbeg distillery.  At the time Ardbeg was closed and Bruichladdich was still operational.  Every year, they answered, "No way."  After five years, they said they would agree to sell the Distillery, but to Glenmorangie (who didn't even visit Ardbeg before signing the contract!)
I remember, Glenmorangie's Chairman came to me, at La Réserve.  We had a nice chat.  He didn't know what to do with Ardbeg's whiskies so I gave him a piece of advice.  "You shouldn't chill-filter, and you should reduce the malt to 46% vol.  That's the way we bottle our Murray McDavid malts, and our own Ardbegs."  That's what he did, and it produced the acclaimed new Ardbeg Ten.

Anyway, Bruichladdich was silent at that time.  More than thirty different people tried to buy it, but its owner, Invergordon, had been bought by Whyte & Mackay and Jim Beam Brands.  JBB became owner of seven distilleries and they bought Invergordon just because of their blending plant.  They found all the malts 'surplus to requirements, except Jura and Dalmore and so,  in the space of a couple of years,  they closed all of them except these two.

I went on writing to Invergordon for five years (from 1996 to 2000), each January. Finally, in January 2000, to my shock, they said "OK, but we need a letter from a bank, to prove that you've got the money."  I met the people from the Bank of Scotland.  They condescended to listen to me, and they said "You've got to find £ 4 million, then we'll lend you the rest of the money."  Never believing I would do it, I managed to collect the money from clients of La Réserve and Murray McDavid, and from Islay people. So, six months later, I went back to the bank, with the evidence of the £ 4 million. They said "Hey, you're still here!"  You know, the clock was ticking, and Invergordon was becoming impatient, but the bank was finally convinced and we were able to finish the deal.

Q12 - So, it hasn't been that difficult, after all!

Wait!  In September 2000, it was time to finalize the deal with Jim Beam Brands.  But things were progressing slowly with the bank.  JBB sent me an ultimatum.  All the financing had to be in place by December 19th or the deal was over. You know, it's quite easy to borrow either £ 200,000 or £ 10 million, but £ 3 million is much more difficult.  As the bank said, "We don't normally get out of bed for less than £10 million".  Anyway, on December 19th, all the money was there, except for £ 300,000 that had been sent, but hadn't arrived yet.  I remember, I was at my lawyer's office.  I had arrived early in the morning and we didn't stop calling the bank all morning.  JBB's deadline was 12:00 and at 11:40, the £ 300,000 still wasn't there.  My lawyer said "Mark, you should start to think about what you're going to say to JBB. They're waiting for your call at noon."  I was destroyed, as you can guess.  Simon and Gordon, were already at the Harbour Inn, Bowmore, waiting for the good news to enter Bruichladdich.

At 11:59, I made a final call to the bank.  They answered "No problem, the money just arrived! We've got the whole amount now."  I started dancing in my lawyer's office.
They all thought that I was going crazy!

Q13 - Well, anybody would have gone crazy…

In fact, there were two reasons why I was extremely happy. Bruichladdich, and the fact that my wife gave birth to our first child, a son, half an hour before the Bruichladdich deal closed!

Q14 - Nice story Mark… What did you do next?

I went to Bruichladdich a few days later and ceremonially I tore away the panel that said "Plant Closed - No Visitors!"  Then, from January to May, we refurbished everything - wood, metal, pipes....  Some specialized companies helped us.  We wanted to preserve all the equipment.  Jim McEwan joined the team at this point.  He was really happy to get back to his roots! We re-hired some of the original people from Bruichladdich.  They're so skilled!  We had a really good team of young, talented and enthusiastic guys doing the work.

We took the boilers to pieces, we cleaned everything, and we remounted them.  It was very moving, when we made them work again for the first time. It was like an old steam train. And on May 29th, 2001, we organized our first distillation.
My son Ruaridh filled cask No. 1. 

Q15 - People really like the new design of Bruichladdich bottles.
Did you hire a famous designer?

Not at all.  You know, we wanted to get rid of the Scottish clichés, tartans, bagpipes, stags' heads etc. We did it mainly ourselves. We all had an input.  Gordon chose the bottle, I helped to design the labelling.  The aquamarine was chosen because it's the real colour of the sea round Islay, when you're walking on the beach.  It reflects the marine nature of Bruichladdich.

Q16 - Now, can you tell us what sets Bruichladdich apart from other Islay distilleries?

Sure!  Bruichladdich was made a distillery, not a farm!  That's why the stills are very tall.  They give us a very elegant and sophisticated spirit.  Most other distilleries were farms, that's why the stills are quite short - they had to fit into the barn.  They produce a whisky, which is heavier and oilier, in short: much more powerful.

Also, Bruichladdich hasn't been a peated malt since 1961.  Before that year, it was much more peated, but the kiln was dismantled in 1961.  Bruichladdich is the only malt from Islay, which is entirely aged on Islay.  Most other malts are aged very far from the sea on the mainland!  What is Islay malt after all?  There is no legal definition - it could be peated whisky aged inland or non-peated whisky aged on Islay!

Q17 - So, the Bruichladdichs are among the softest Islay malts available.
Are you going to change anything in the future?

You know, we really want to produce the best whiskies possible.  The stills are tall, that is to say Bruichladdich will remain a sophisticated whisky.  We won't peat it, and it will be aged in Bourbon casks.  Bourbon casks are excellent for fine spirits.  But they reveal every single flaw of a more vulgar alcohol, while sherry casks can mask the same flaws.  When Jim came, he decided to put some new spirits in sherry casks, and to increase the phenol level to 10 PPM.  But after a year, he found that Bruichladdich is better when unpeated (only 2-3 PPM, coming solely from the water), and when aged in bourbon casks.  The highly acclaimed 20 years old from the new series is 100% aged in bourbon casks!

Q18 - What are your personal favorites in the current Bruichladdich range?

The 15 year old that Jim created.
The three bottlings are completely different.  We wanted three 'cuvées' to suit whatever mood you were in.  I would say the 10 year old is apéritif and the 15 year old contemplative, while the 20 year old is digestive.  None is coloured, nor chill-filtered, nor homogenized and all are 100% natural.  These were the first releases and first editions of those ages.  The next editions (to be released in May) will be different. We don't want to be banging on about the same thing all the time!

Q19 - When will the first bottlings of the 'new' product become available?

Ten years' time.  We had 6,000 full casks at Bruichladdich when we bought the distillery, going back to 1964. So, as you can guess, there's some whisky left for the next few years.
What I can say is that we won't vat old and new Bruichladdichs together.

Q20 - What will the new bottlings of Bruichladdich be in the near future?

Trickle distillation and a really good cask policy will produce top quality spirit.
I bought some Sauternes casks from Château Yquem - first fill, of course. Bruichladdich aged (and not just finished) in Yquem casks should be fantastic!  We bought some Madeira casks as well, and different sherries:  Fino, Amontillado, Pedro Ximenez as well.

Q21 - Yquem, wow!
By the way, will your Bruichladdich Madeira Wood taste like Glenmorangie's?

Well, I don't think so.  You know, we'll actually mature our whisky in the casks, for 10, 15 years or more.  It's not only a matter of quick "finishing" where they inject the whisky in casks under very high pressure, and then "cook" it.  We'll never do that at Bruichladdich.

Q22 - Any other new Bruichladdich bottlings this year?

Yes, in April, we'll launch Bruichladdich Vintage. The first bottling will be 1984, and sherry casks will be involved.  It will be Bruichladdich's fourth expression.  The label will be a new, cream-coloured one. The last bottling this year will be a cask strength version from the sixties, bottled at 45 to 48% vol, called Bruichladdich Legacy.  The label will be new as well, and will show a wonderful painting of Islay's landscape. And the sixth bottling? The Valinch - only available at the Distillery and you have to fill it yourself!

Q23 - But recently, I've seen a Ceramic bottle of 1983 wearing the new label!

Yes, this was a very special bottling for a German customer.  We only made 600 ceramics.  It's excellent whisky, but we won't do that again.  I must say we'll always bottle Bruichladdich for its taste, and never only for the collectors. From later this year, every malt will be bottled at the Distillery. We are building a bottling hall, to open in May.  Bruichladdich will be the first official bottling done on Islay, as no other distillery bottles all its whiskies on the island.

Q24 - What about Port Charlotte?
Some say it will be quite heavily peated.

Let me tell you the whole story.
In 1998, Jim Beam Brands let the Distillery run for a month, just to let it run.  You need some feints from a former distillation to do that.  The only feints they had at the time were heavily peated.  It wasn't planned, it was an accident! When Simon, Gordon, Jim and myself tasted the results, we found it was excellent.  Not medicinal at all, and very sophisticated, thanks to Bruichladdich's stills.

This whisky is highly peated (30 ppm), but it has  no "hospital" taste, owing to the tall stills.  It offers the genuine taste of peat.  Medicinal flavours come from short stills.  The genuine taste of peat combined with "sea" notes - fantastic.  High stills will always give whiskies which will be subtler than Lagavulin, Ardbeg or Laphroaig.  Even if they are more heavily peated!  Don't get me wrong - I love all these whiskies.

Anyway we decided to do it again, with 35ppm.  And that's Port Charlotte.  It won't be bottled for 8 or 9 years from now.  It's so good!  You know, we take our time.  We only run the distillery at 1/5 of its capacity. We don't need to produce more than that, because we won't sell any malt to blenders.

Q25 - Do you use malts from Port Ellen Maltings?

Yes, and you know, something very funny happened.  We produce the whisky as it was done fifty, a hundred years ago. We use no computers!  So, usually, a computerized distillery gets 85% of the potential yield stated on the malter's analysis. But it happens that we get 105%!  Yes, with our old 1881 equipment, distilling slowly, correctly, without pressure!

Q26 - And what about the mysterious Octomore?

Octomore is a farm, located where the spring we use for Bruichladdich rises.
It's a former distillery, which was closed 80 years ago. Octomore will be our most heavily peated malt; we'll only produce it to check what our stills will give with malts rating up to 60 PPM!
Once again, a good still is the most important thing.
Good stills always produce good whisky.

Q27 - OK, Mark - one last stupid question.
On every bottle of Murray McDavid or Bruichladdich, one can read "Clachan A Choin".
What does this mean?
Is it Gaelic?

Yes it is.
Literally, it means "The Dog's Bollocks" ;-)
But it also means "Really Good" - it's one of those expressions that don't really translate into a foreign language... When we say something is REALLY good, we have a number of phrases that we use: 'the cat's pyjamas', 'the cat's whiskers', etc. Putting 'Clachan A Choin' on our bottles was just to emphasise our status as 'enfant terrible' of the whisky industry.

But this didn't prevent Bruichladdich from being elected Distillery of the Year in 2001!
 

All right, Mark. Thanks a lot, on behalf of all the MaltManiacs.
And congratulations on both your energy and your passion!

- - -

After this interview, Paul and I had excellent drams with Mark. An old heavily sherried Bruichladdich (not bottled at the moment), and several other Laddies, Lochside 1981, Springbank 1965 and Linkwood 1988, all from Murray McDavid's. They were all superb whiskies… Kind of paradise for any MaltManiac!

Serge Valentin
 

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E-pistle #02/12 - Aberlour JOLT Transcript
Transcript by Johannes van den Heuvel, Holland

'Poor Man's Macallan' or 'Macallan-Killer'?
Preface by Johannes

This transcript was made during our second JOLT on 23/03/2002.
Our first JOLT (Joint On-Line Tasting) in December 2001 (Laphroaig,
see E-pistle #01/12 for details) was a big success, but it wasn't a
real 'Live' event as such. This time around, we synchronized our
watches and tried to sample our Aberlours as simultaneously as
possible. Because our new Malt Maniacs website is still heavily
under construction, we haven't figured out the 'definitive'
format for our JOLTS yet.

Of course, things are complicated by the fact that the Malt Maniacs
are scattered across the face of the earth. This presents us with a
practical problem: timezones. When it's evening in Europe, it's around
noon in the America's and past midnight in India and Australia.
We finally decided to start the Aberlour JOLT at 22:00 GMT.
This would be most convenient for Roman, Klaus and myself, while Patrick and Davin would be able to join us at socially acceptable drinking hours as well. Davin seems to have become an enthusiastic early drinker, but I'm quite sure such behavior isn't the 'norm' - even in the colonies... Anyway, let's hear it for the 'International Aberlour Testing Team';

Australia - Craig Daniels
Canada - Davin de Kergommeaux
Germany - Klaus Everding
Holland - Johannes van den Heuvel
Israel - Roman Parparov
USA - Patrick Whaley

Fresh correspondent Serge Valentin from France wasn't able to join in the 'live' part of the JOLT, but he offered to write an introduction beforehand to get us started. Good thinking - especially for a Frenchman ;-)
Here it is;
 

Aberlour - a French 'point de vue'.
Introduction by Serge Valentin

Aberlour has always been a very popular whisky in France, as French king of pastis Pernod-Ricard bought its owner (Campbell Distillers) in 1974. As any heavily marketed product (one can get a bottle of 10yo for 16 euro's here), it's quite overlooked by most of the so-called French "elite". And I remember the clerk's astonished face when I recently asked for a bottle of Cuvee Marie d'Ecosse at La Maison du Whisky in Paris. But does a whisky need to be rare in order to be good? Of course not!

Anyway, I must admit that I've never been into Aberlour, until I had my very first dram of A'bunadh. To be honest, I don't recall having drank any Aberlour before! When I told Johannes that I would not be able to take part in the Aberlour JOLT, he asked me to write this short introduction instead. I accepted, but let's face it, I'm quite ignorant about this malt. So, I picked up my books, browsed the web, and came to the conclusion that Aberlour is highly regarded all over the world, except in France!
Hem those Frenchies!

Here are a few quotes from my bookshelf:

"One of the outstanding Speyside malts on the market, Aberlour has several idiosyncrasies which possibly contribute to its flavor: among them an insistence on using Scottish barley and casking with cork bungs (as opposed to wood) in the belief that they allow harsher, unwanted elements to escape."
Graham Nown

"Ideal digestif for Cognac lovers seeking new adventures."
Stefan Gabanyi

"Another wonderful malt. It was decided to take the Macallan route by adding more and more sherry cask into the vatting, and this has worked a treat. It has changed dramatically, even over the last half-dozen years, and today is the creamiest and most toffee-like of all the cream-toffee style malts. When warm in the hand, it is as sweet as your first love. Of all Scotland's distilleries this is probably the one, which has risen from an also-ran to undisputed classic in the shortest time."
Jim Murray

"Lovers of the richer style of Speyside malt rightly regard Aberlour as being in the top echelon.
The distillery is noted for its pristine cleanliness and fastidious attention to detail."
Michael Jackson

Wow! I think I'll go for further Aberlour samplings in the near future. I already located a bottle of A'bunadh Silver Label that was making sheep's eyes at me during my last visit at my favorite liquor store.

Happy JOLT, a votre sante,

Serge
 

Aberlour JOLT 001 - 22:00 GMT - Johannes

Hi, fellow Malt Maniacs.

I'd like to officially open the 'Live' Aberlour JOLT.
Although I don't recall a bottle of Aberlour ever making sheep's eyes at me (?), I have to admit my opinion about this distillery has been improving rapidly. In his introduction, Serge mentioned that the A'bunadh was a real eye-opener for him and it was the same with me. If Craig hadn't been raving about it I would probably have avoided it, considering the hefty price-tag. But I tried it, and the rest is history.

So far, I've only sampled two different versions 'officially'; the aforementioned A'bunadh and several incarnations of the standard 10yo OB. Since my amazing discovery of the A'bunadh, quite a few other versions have managed to creep into my reserve stock. I haven't had a chance to open any of them, so this JOLT seems like the perfect occasion to do just that. This will cause a temporary overrepresentation of Aberlours on my shelves, but if the other versions are anything like the 10yo OB or A'bunadh they should do well in the seasons to come.
These are the 6 bottles on my table:

• Aberlour 10yo (40.0%, OB, bottled +/- 2001, 100 cl)
• Aberlour 15yo Sherry Wood Finish (40.0%, OB, bottled +/- 2000, 70 cl)
• Aberlour NAS 'Antique' (43.0%, OB, bottled +/- 2000, 70 cl)
• Aberlour NAS A'bunadh (59.6%, OB, no batch number, bottled +/- 2000, 70 cl)
• Aberlour NAS A'bunadh Batch #6 (59.9%, OB, bottled +/- 2001, 70 cl)
• Aberlour NAS '100 Proof' (57.1%, OB, bottled +/- 2000, 100 cl)
   

Who else is on-line yet and what's on the table?
 

Aberlour JOLT 002 - 22:14 GMT - Klaus

I am online.
Sorry, I only have the Aberlour 10yo (40%, OB, 100 cl) in my collection. But as a counterpart to you A'bunnadh-sherry-suckers I will try some drams of the old Macallan 100 Proof and the new Macallan Cask Strength.
 

Aberlour JOLT 003 - 22:21 GMT - Johannes

Well, Klaus

I have to admit Macallan seems like a very good alternative when you're short on Aberlours. They certainly are sherried! Macallan will be the malt for our next (June) JOLT anyway, so it can't hurt to do some preliminary experiments. If I had to pick a mainstream distillery that produces the most Macallan-like malts it would be Aberlour.
I've just finished my first dram; the Aberlour 10yo (40%, OB, 100 cl).
Here are my notes:

Nose: Well, some sherry of course. Malty, a bit 'middle of the road'.
It doesn't seem quite as sherried as previous bottlings.
Hint of mint or menthol? A little more spicy after a minute.
Opens up quite nicely, with more citrus (orange) and some toffeeish notes.
Taste: Sweet and smooth, with a very decent burn. Good 'feel'.
Some tobacco in the finish? Chewy. Some freshness after time.

Conclusion: 80 points. A very decent single malt. It seems considerably less sherried than the two previous 10 year bottling I've tried - especially my first bottle (sampled around 1994), but it has gained a new sense of balance. After a short dip in recent years it seems to back to the old standards.

Anybody else have any thoughts on the sherry in Aberlour?
 

Aberlour JOLT 004 - 22:26 GMT - Roman

My Inventory:

• Aberlour 10 43%
• Aberlour Antique NAS 43%
• Aberlour 15 SWF 40%
• Aberlour A'bunadh Batch #7 59.9%

My Background Music:
A Russian bard (guitar player & singer, sort of soviet soul music).
 

Aberlour JOLT 005 - 22:31 GMT - Johannes

Welcome, Roman,

Ah, yes - music! Good idea. I've just put 'Miserere' by Arvo Pärt in the CD-player. An Estonian (?) composer that writes big, 'sherried' music. Perfect for Aberlour.

OK, I just had the Aberlour 15yo Sherry Wood Finish (40.0%, OB).
Nose: Even sweeter and spicier than the 10. Subtle. A very strong fruity base, with lots of other stuff going on there as well. Intriguing sour notes. Opens up big time after a minute. Nasally speaking, this qualifies as an amazing discovery!
Taste: Starts surprisingly soft. Very smooth!
Extremely fruity as well. Distilled fruit-juice. Heavy.

Conclusion: Smashing! Very fruity! 85 points. No let me rephrase that...
84 points for the 15. After a while, the finish becomes too dry and bitter.
The nose is fabulous, but the taste lacks some power.
 

Aberlour JOLT 006 - 22:33 GMT - Patrick

I am online now, 15:30 PM here.
What I have on the table (or my floor exactly...):

• Aberlour 15yo (40%, OB, 75 cl)
• Aberlour A'bunadh Batch #6 (59.6%, OB, 75 cl)

I got the music going on too, just very different stuff, lol! Anyway, I just took the first sip of the Aberlour 15yo Sherry Wood Finish (40.0%, OB).  Here is what I have gathered after the first sip: sherry, anise, soft floral background notes in the nose; wood and sherry on the palate; lingering sherry in the finish.
 

Aberlour JOLT 007 - 22:45 GMT - Roman

I've just noticed an inconsistency - my Aberlour 10yo is at 43% vol! There is no special marking on the bottle. It was purchased in a major supermarket (Julius Meinl Am Graben) in Wien for about 29 Euro. The bottle has been opened for a while but is full by about 80%.

Nose: slightly malty, light streaks of sherry. Oranges when the sniff is deeper. Everything "hinted" rather than present.
The nose has weakened from what it was when the bottle was just opened.
Taste: sweet, but not to smooth. Main malt line is dominant. Ginger.
The afterburn is quite strong and has a slight peaty feeling.

Score: 81 points. A bit above about "80 benchmark". Superb value malt.
Excellent beginner malt - no too accented lines to scare people away.
 

Aberlour JOLT 008 - 22:47 GMT - Klaus

Here are my tasting notes for the Aberlour 10yo (40%, OB, 100 cl). My bottle seems to come from Spain although I bought it here in Hamburg at the Weinquelle. On the label on the back side of the bottle is written something like 'PR LARIOS, S.A.  ... 29004 Malaga'.  Since the bottle was not made for the German market, I can't  if the malt contains caramel to adjust the colour. On "German" bottles it must be noted when caramel is present. The cardboard tube with the bottle inside contained a whisky glass. But why did the Aberlour guys choose a tumbler. The malt is pleasant enough to drink it from a nosing glass.
Price tag for the Aberlour here in Hamburg: 31 Euro.
Tasting notes:

It seems that this bottle needs some time to break in. I opened it two or three weeks ago and the nose was somehow unpleasant. Today it has changed a little bit. But I think it will still improve with the months. It astonishes me that different batches can be so different. Only three months ago we tried the Aberlour with my malt friends. It was fresh and very nice even from the new opened bottle.

Nose: I gave the malt more than 10 minutes to breathe.
Now the sour and disgusting notes have vanished. Sniff- sniff, well almost...
But all the tickling and flowery notes are also gone.
What remains: Maltiness, hints of raisins ...
Nothing very special, nothing to contemplate upon.
Taste: Better than the nose. Sweet and fresh, maybe some citrus fruits or spice but not biting. Maybe a touch of toffee. Sherry is barely detectable. Lasts not very long.

Conclusion: 80 points seem reasonable.
A nice malt with excellent value for money rating.
 

Aberlour JOLT 009 - 22:55 GMT - Johannes

Yes, Klaus - I have the same 'Spanish' 10yo 40% litre bottling with the free tumbler. Ah well, the glass could be useful for drinking bourbon in the summer...

It seems we are all in agreement on the Aberlour 10. The single point difference with Roman's bottling could very well be explained by the difference in alcohol percentage, or other differences that come from vatting differences between batches. I find that many malts that are bottled at 43% or 46% (not to mention cask strength!) tend to 'show off' more in my mouth. They just seem to try a little harder at expressing themselves...

After Patrick mentioned the 'flower' elements in the 15yo I noticed it too - a bit like rose water..... This is really addictive stuff! I've just sneaked my second dram into my tasting schedule, although I suppose I should really be getting on to the 'Antique' now.
 

Aberlour JOLT 010 - 22:57 GMT - Patrick

The Aberlour 15yo Sherry Wood Finish (40.0%, OB) is a nice little malt. The nose seems to be settling, the floral background notes are coming to the foreground, but it may be mellowing a little too much for my taste.  Nonetheless, it is one of the better sherry styles malts I have tasted, actually, I think I am coming around to them.

I have had the 15 in the glass for 20-30 minutes now. I am thinking about giving it a rating of 80 points. It has a good nose, nice smoothness, a good finish, and it's easily drinkable. But, the nose fades and loses steam. I also feel that it is somewhat on the lighter side, and I like the bigger malts. But, like I said, it is one of the best sherry styled malts I have had.  I am not sure if it is better than the Glenmorangie sherry, I would have to put them H2H. I am noticing the same thing as Roman, how the Aberlour seems to be fading/falling apart in the glass.

Johannes, please don't say bourbon!
I have been working through a bottle, but I'll save that for another time.
After all, this is a celebration for Aberlour!
 

Aberlour JOLT 011 - 23:01 GMT - Roman

Here are my notes for the Aberlour NAS 'Antique' (43.0%, OB, 70 cl), purchased at Schonbichler shop in Wien for about 65 Euro.

Nose: hearty improvement over what it was a month ago when opened.
Sherry well-felt, also grapes and almonds are nicely present. Hint of oiliness which is disrupting. Sherry stronger than in Aberlour 10. The aroma fades with time in the glass.
Taste: Very tingly. Bitterish, a bit of grape juice, later some mint and cocoa. Quite burning and somehow unbalanced. Looks like it took the worst from Aberlour 10 and aged with it. The sherry is still there, but to a much lesser degree than one would have expected.

Rating: 74 points. A disappointment.

Fantastic coincidence: Now Playing "Vodka" by Mikhail Scherbakov.
 

Aberlour JOLT 012 - 23:03 GMT - Klaus

Has anybody visited the Aberlour site ?
The opening screen looks very good. Too bad that the downloads didn't seem to work.
I would have liked to try the screensaver. Watching the movie could be interesting as well.

Klaus
 

Aberlour JOLT 013 - 23:16 GMT - Johannes

Yeah, Klaus...
I've visited the site just before the JOLT and wasn't overly impressed. The opening screen looks great, I agree. I've made several similar 'panoramics' for clients in QuickTime VR, which has the advantage that the scenes are really interactive. I plan on making panoramics of every active distillery in Scotland for my CD-ROM. Anyway, the traffic lights on my modem showed there was constant traffic between the Aberlour server and my computer, even after a page had loaded. I'm a bit paranoid about these things, so I closed the site when the JOLT started.

Now about the Aberlour NAS 'Antique' (43.0%, OB, 70 cl).
This whisky is said to be a vatting containing whiskies aged from 10 - 25 years. Officially, it's only available at duty-free stores, but I managed to secure a bottle at Ton Overmars.
Nose: Cookies and fudge. Spicy too. Smokier after a few minutes. Roman feels it's more sherried than his 10, but I feel the opposite is the case with my bottle.
Taste: Fruity, but not as much as the 15.

Conclusion: 83 points . Hmmm - damn those batch differences! How can my experiences be so different from Roman's? I imagine personal taste could be a factor here, but looking at the Malt Maniacs Matrix it seems we are in agreement more often than not. Could it be just another bad nose day? Perhaps. But although I'm often not able to pick up the finer nuances of a malt on a bad nose day, I'm usually still able to express my enjoyment on a 1-100 scale.

The remaining conclusion is that differences between different batches of official Aberlour bottlings can be considerable. But if this is the case, what's the use of offering such a wide range of different bottlings? Marketing, I guess. Well, one of the positive marketing effects here in Holland is that I paid 41 Euro's for my bottle - almost 25 Euro's less than Roman.
 

Aberlour JOLT 014 - 23:20 GMT - Roman

About the different ratings for the Antique: I think it's rather taste differences than batch differences. Remember how low I rated Glenfarclas 12 and Bowmore 12? I do not appreciate extra bitterness or iodine in whisky.

the availability of the 'Antique': I purchased mine in a regular shop in Wien and it was available in at least one more shop. The only Aberlour I've seen "Duty Free Only" is the Aberlour 1990 I was too overtaxed to buy, but Davin got it. The Antique cost me less than the 15yo The Aberlour 15yo Sherry Wood Finish (40.0%, OB, 70 cl) was purchased at Julius Supermarket in Wien for about Euro 70.

Nose: great bouquet. Roses, peaches. Streaks of cherry and of caramel combining into a very friendly combination.
Taste: sweet, fruity, rather gently sherried. Still being very friendly. Apples, peaches, honey in the beginning, then the taste develops a sour side. Still not too challenging, but sometimes easiness is a good thing. This malt fades lesser and in a better way than two previous Aberlours.

Conclusion: 83 points . A lot of contrast between this one and the Aberlour 10. It has some similarities with the Antique but it's clearly better by a league. Too friendly for me, but other than that a very good whisky.

I am not sure I will be able to stay with the JOLT throughout all the time - I work tomorrow, Sunday is workday in Israel.
 

Aberlour JOLT 015 - 23:21 GMT - Davin

Hi Malt Mad,

OK, a few computer problems but here I am finally on line.

Klaus, I envy you your Macallan 100 proof,  but if you ever want to compare Glendronachs, I still have a few drams of the very sherried 12 yo.  It's a pretty bluntly sherried, but enjoyable whisky.  And now, Johannes I have just read your sherry comments, and have to say the two ten year olds I am tasting are very different, (and I've only got to the nose so far) with the newer version being more sherried and much richer.  So the 15 yo is a discovery?  I chose the 12yo double caseked over it based on packaging!
I'll send this, then see what else has come in from you guys.

Tonight I'll be JOLTing back:

• Aberlour 10yo (43%, OB, purchased 2001, 750 ml)
• Aberlour 10yo (40%, OB, purchased 2000, probably older, 50 ml mini)
• Aberlour 12yo Double Cask Matured (Bourbon Oak & Sherry Oak)
  (43%, OB, purchased 2002, 70 ml)
• Aberlour Vintage 1990 Edition (40% OB, purchased 2002, 1 litre)
• Aberlour A'bunadh Batch No. 6 (59.9% OB purchased 2001, 750 ml)

Aberlour 10yo (40%, OB, purchased 2000, probably older, 50 ml mini)
This is a bottle I picked up in Provincetown a couple of summers ago.  The woman in the liquor shop told me she had been cleaning the basement and found some Aberlour and some Benriach "nips" as she called them.  By color it is identical to the 43% big bottle I bought at LCBO.  The nose though is not nearly as rich and has almost a spirity overtone.  Nosed H2H the 43% is more sherried and has more overall nose, both sultana raisins and dry grain, while the 40% is more malty and overall more subdued.

These were the 'Nosing Notes' - Tasting notes to follow.
 

Aberlour JOLT 016 - 23:32 GMT - Johannes

Welcome, Davin,

Ah, now that's interesting... You have both a 40% and 43% of the Aberlour 10. It seems your experiences prove that these batch differences we talked about can be considerable. As far as my own tastings go: three malts down, three to go.
I'm on to the Aberlour 100 Proof next.

Boy! I have to say that it seems I've underestimated this distillery. I've always liked the 10yo OB but I've never bothered to look into other versions until I discovered the A'bunadh at Craig's suggestion. I've always looked at Aberlour as a 'Poor Man's Macallan' but there's nothing poor about the 15 and Antique! They actually give Macallan a run for their money! I paid considerably less than 50 Euro's per bottle, so I guess the prices of the 15 and Antique are fair - but nowhere near the great value of the 10.
 

Aberlour JOLT 017 - 23:39 GMT - Patrick

I am also impressed by Aberlour.

I really didn't care for the 10yo but the 15 is definitely good stuff, there's no doubt about it.  Poor Man's Macallan huh?  You make it sound like monkfish, lol.  I don't think that I could compare the two because I haven't had any Mac in a while, but it is a very interesting comment.
 

Aberlour JOLT 018 - 23:40 GMT - Davin

OK, given a bit of time to develop, the older, 40% Aberlour 10yo is much fruitier, but I still think the newer 43% version is more complex and the malt is really rich and nutty. But on first taste, the newer version just kills the older which is almost bitter.  I am tasting these malts in my new Maison du Whisky "pure glasses"  I really like these.  The have a tulip shape, but a heavy base and feel good in your hand, like a tumbler. I find the Glenmorangie-style tulip glasses a bit dainty for tasting malts.

Palate & Score:

Aberlour 10yo (43%, OB, purchased 2001, 750 ml)
Malty and sweetly sherried.  Patrick says his is falling apart in the glass, but this one isn't.  The sultanas are gone, but the richness of both the malt and the sherry has a synergy that makes the malt bigger than either malt or sherry alone.  There is a kind of sourness in the nose, and a distinct tropical fruit taste in the palate.  There is a hint of licorice in the nose now.  Here is the spiciness I had expected.  did someone say ginger?  That's what I get way in the back.  The finish is a bit slipperier and much maltier than the older version, but only medium in length.  I like this malt as it seems to have a lot of body to it, a range of both malt and sherry notes, and  well-synthesized complexity.  It just makes it into the elite rage, scoring a respectable 80 points.

Aberlour 10yo (40%, OB, purchased 2000, probably older, 50 ml mini)
Yikes! - an astringent bitterness.  Less sherry and hell, less malt.  This one is not nearly as good as the 43%  It's nice and warm in the mouth though, although not as spicy as I had expected.  In the middle some nice mouth-filling maltiness develops.  The bottle was quite full when I opened it, not like some minis, so I don't think the flavor has been affected by evaporation.  It's definitely a different vatting than the 43% I picked up at LCBO.  I wish I knew how old this little bottle was.  The finish is medium-long and becomes both grainier and sweeter as it fades overall.  I'll replace the newer version, but probably wouldn't buy this version again.  Score: 77 points.

Well, I've finished the 10 yos and now on to the 12 yo double casked.
 

Aberlour JOLT 019 - 23:45 GMT - Johannes

Yeah Patrick - you can count on me for interesting comments....
I wonder how Klaus is doing with his Macallans?

It's funny how Davin's experiences with two versions of the Aberlour 10yo are similar to mine: The +/- 1994 bottling I had was at 80, a +/- 2000 bottling was at 77 and the latest one arrived at 80 points again.

Meanwhile, I'm tasting the Aberlour '100 Proof' (57.1%, OB, bottled +/- 2000, 100 cl). Even though I've never sampled it before, I've bought 3 bottles of the stuff. Craig Daniels rates it higher than the A'bunadh. At only 42 Euro's a bottle, I decided this would probably be a solid investment - even if it scores below the A'bunadh.

Nose: Big, sweet and powerful. Woody elements as well.
There is complexity, but it's not as apparent as in the 15 or Antique.
You really have to look for it, but when you find it it's a revelation.
Taste: Very drinkable at Cask Strength - at least for the first 5 seconds.
Then the big burn starts. A bit like sweet dough after adding water.

Preliminary conclusion: 83 points . I'm just not quite sure yet. It has something rough that reminds me of the Glenfarclas 105, but when you dig deeper there seems to be something special going on. Something tells me this is a winner, but on this bad nose day I can't exactly say why. Well, for one thing: it warms you from your brows to your bollocks.
 

Aberlour JOLT 020 - 23:51 GMT - Patrick

Davin,  I love the Glenmorangie glasses, I use them all the time.
The glass that you're using, is it much different?

Off to tackle my A'bunadh Batch #6 at full strength.
 

Aberlour JOLT 021 - 23:53 GMT - Roman

I've got the report on my Aberlour A'bunadh Batch #7 (59.9%, OB, 70 cl), purchased at Julius Mein Am Graben for about Euro 87. For the JOLT I will try the essential malt and diluted as well, but usually I drink it as is (including SHOTS when suspecting a coming cold, which results in bulging eyes but cold never shows up!).

Straight version:
Nose: heavy artillery of honey and sherry! Symphony of sweetness of an immense strength. It's like being hit with a pillow, but the pillow weighs about a ton.
Taste: Well, it is 60% vol. But it is extremely good. The high alcohol percentage is almost completely shaded by the honey and sherry, the taste is quite similar to the nose. All possible kinds of sweetness discovered. A magnificent malt.

Diluted version (to about 40%):
Nose: Diluted nose of the full version, that's all.
Taste: for some reason, the sweetness did weaken, and the background bitterness, almost hidden, is now stronger and spoiling.
Score: 90 points . Don't dilute that malt, please!

Well guys, I will postpone the H2H tastings until later - it is 01:00 PM here, and I am working tomorrow.
The JOLTs are magnificent experience. Thanks to everyone!

Have a good evening :)

PS: I wasn't sure I told you guys before, so: It's well-known that Russians are considered the most drunk nation in the world (for the gross alcohol consumption amount - for sure). So, how do you think Russians deal with HANGOVER? Here is the answer: Pickle Juice (from a can of pickled cucumbers or tomatoes) is considered the best hangover treat whatsoever. :)

Believe it or not!
 

Aberlour JOLT 022 - 23:54 GMT - Johannes

Pickle Juice? Those Russians are strange creatures indeed....
Here in Holland we have a great new invention called 'Aspirin'.

Sweet drams, Roman.

As far as the glassware is concerned, I'm sticking with my 'Gallon' cognac snifters. Especially because I have a very bad nose day today - I'll need all the amplification I can get.
 

Aberlour JOLT 023 - 23:56 GMT - Davin

There are 10 new messages waiting form you guys!
Well, I may be slow, but I'm thorough!!
I'll try the nose then read your thoughts.

Your first message talks about batch differences. Well, see my notes on the 10 yo.  And now you're going on about the Antique!  Another one I passed on in favor of the 1990.  I agree. Johannes, Aberlour is really a great malt, and I think the price tends to keep the snobs away.  I've been drinking it for a while and frankly I like the 10 yo better than the 12 yo or 15 yo Macallans.  I've had a couple of 18 yo Macallans though that would give it a run for its money.  Someone (Pat) said that easy isn't always a bad thing, and that's one of the great things about the 10 yo Aberlour,  It's inexpensive enough to just drink, without savoring, but complex and rich enough to give great pleasure to a studied dram.  I'm a fan. Who suggested Aberlour for tonight anyway?

Okay, on to the next one; Aberlour 12yo Double Cask Matured (43%, OB purchased 2002, 70 ml). Though it comes in a tube, the 12yo double casked (Bourbon Oak and Sherry Oak) uses the same bottle as the A'bunadh. Of course since this is a European bottle, purchased in Paris, there is a 50 ml dimple in the bottom.

Nose: Well, first off I find it as malty as the better of the 10yos, but not as sherried. It develops a nice dried, candied christmas cake fruit essence, though without the estery overtones of candied fruit.  After a few minutes in a covered glass, the nose becomes quite fruity, less malty and the sherry begins to dominate.
This one really has developed in the glass.
 

Aberlour JOLT 024 - 23:57 GMT - Klaus

I have discovered that the Aberlour 10y which I tried with my friends was a 43% bottle. The nose was nice and clean right from the beginning. My bottle at home is 40% and it is not so fresh. It needs time to break in and has a hint of gastric acid scent even after three weeks in the open bottle. Strange...

Meanwhile I have had a dram of Macallan 10yo 100 Proof - My A'bunadh exchange malt. Guys, I can tell you, I would throw away three bottles of A'bunadh for one extra bottle of that Mac. I got the malt from Johannes. Signs on the label indicate that it was made for the Japanese market and then by mysterious ways imported to the Netherlands. The new Mac C/S which is available since half a year here in Hamburg can't keep up with that bottling. I will wait with my tasting notes for the Macallan JOLT.  But I must insist that this malt beats every sherried malt I have ever tasted.

Music: I have an interesting piece of Scottish folk music from the McCalmans. It is called "Our Glens". Very funny text and almost every Glen distillery in Scotland is mentioned including some I have never heard of.
 

Aberlour JOLT 025 - 23:58 GMT - Patrick

I just took my first sip of the A'bunadh Batch #6 and I agree with Roman.
It is a bit overpowering for me at full strength, but everything else in it is so huge also.
This is very good!

Klaus, those are some pretty bold statements you are making.
I am enjoying the A'bunadh very much.
I have a question for you; if this legendary Macallan 10yo 100 Proof stuff is so magnificent, where can I get some?!?!?!?!?
 

Aberlour JOLT 026 - 23:59 GMT - Johannes

Ah - now we're getting somewhere!
I have to agree with Klaus: The Macallan 10yo 100 Proof (57%, OB, 70 cl) is stunning! Sadly, Macallan stopped producing it a few years ago. If you happen to find a bottle for less than let's say 65 Euro's, make absolutely sure to pick it up! It beats my bottling of the Mac 18 1982. I'll open my bottle of the 'replacement' Macallan 10yo Cask Strength (58.8%, OB, 100 cl) for the June JOLT.

Meanwhile, I have the first notes on my 'old' A'bunadh:
I call this Aberlour A'bunadh (59.6%, OB, 70 cl) 'old', because it's the last bottling that was produced without a batch number. I'll open its successor, Batch #6 after this one. I wonder what happened to batch #1-5? I haven't seen the Aberlour Batch #7 Roman mentioned in Holland yet, but I certainly hope the price will be a little friendlier than the 87 Euro's he paid. At those levels, It's probably no match for Klaus's Macallan 10yo 100 Proof, bang-for-your-buck-wise.

Nose: Ooh - Much more sherried than the Aberlour 100 Proof. Very fruity!
Amazing complexity. Slightly dusty. Try sniffing your 'empty' glass with this one!
Taste: Very sherried. Deep fruity and woody notes. Wonderful balance. Not as easily drinkable as the Aberlour 100 Proof, although the difference in alcohol percentage is a mere 2.5%.

Conclusion: 90 points . Seriously good shit. Sure, it has some flaws, but the fun factor is huge! In the arena of the 'Cask Strength Sherry Heavy Hitters', it's the first serious competition for the Mac 100 Proof I ever tried. I rated the first few drams quite conservatively at 87/88 points, but this is one of those malts that keeps improving in the bottle when it's allowed to breathe a little.  This could be a 'Macallan-killer', but I would need a H2H with the Mac 100 Proof to pick a winner.

Sadly, there's no time for strange H2H's now.
I have some new messages to check and a fresh bottle of A'bunadh to open.
 

Aberlour JOLT 027 - 00:00 GMT - Craig

Hi guys,

22:00 GMT is 8.30 AM in Adelaide, and a snort of the A'bunadh on an early Sunday morning is a bit much, even for a truly committed dipsomaniac. Even considering my palate would be extra fresh, I couldn't do it at 8.30 AM on a Sunday.

So, I wrote an Aberlour Report the night before; between 20:00 PM and 23:00 PM on Saturday, 23 March 2002. No surprises, really: the 15 was better than I remembered and the A'bunadh still takes my breath away (but in the nicest possible way). Vatting the two 10 year olds did make for a better whisky, believe it or not! I'll try and wake up at the right time, but might catch you around midnight (or 10.30 AM my time). I hope you find something of interest.

Premature Australian Aberlour Report

As I settle down with a glass of an old Aberlour 10, (that's been sitting in the museum collection since 1994), I realize that Aberlour was a 'just so' choice. It's the autumnal equinox down here and there's something about the reddish brown hue in the meniscus of Aberlour has always reminded me of the russet and umber of elm trees and prunus as winter looms. It's also apposite as the best of Aberlour are medium weighted whiskies; straddling the gap between the summer flowers of Glenmorangie, Knockando and Glen Elgin and the boots and all, floor polish and beeswax sherry monsters from Craigellachie and Huntly, which come into their own in the dead of winter. Aberlour tends to have a halfway house flavor profile too, sour cherries and apricots but with a creamy maltiness and caramel toffee which gets buried by sherry in most that reaches the marketplace from Macallan and Glendronach.

Serge's choice of the quote from Jim Murray is good, although I can't quite agree that they've reinvented themselves as a premier single malt distillery. I think they've always been there, it's just that (until remarkably recently) they never had the marketing driven price ladder that affords the exploration of product range that the more savvy self-promoters have cottoned on to. One of the barriers to a better reputation (for all distilleries, not just Aberlour) has always been the lack of the 1.5 times leading brand retail price and maybe 6 or 7 years older 'brand ambassador' malt in the portfolio. Aberlour was for too long hamstrung by being either a 10 or 12 and nothing between that and fantastically good, but hideously expensive vintage whiskies.

You can spot the difference between the smart, market savvy Aberlour now and the dour plodder of two decades ago, just by looking at the difference between the range in Michael Jackson's Complete Guide to SMS, between the Second edition (1991) and the 4th edition (1999). In the former the 10 is featured, the discontinued 12 (a grand whisky) is mentioned and the 1964, 1969 and 1970 vintages are dismissed in a footnote. This is a mortal sin (and a grievous misjudgment on Jackson's part) as the 1964 and the 1969 are two of only 7 whiskies I have ever given 95/100. In the 1999 book, there are 14 individual whiskies reviewed. Someone seriously smart went to work for Aberlour between 1980 and 1985, I wonder who it was? Whoever it was, he/she was a genius. If we look at the releases between 1989 and 1999 we have some of the most remarkable and best price pointed whiskies released by any single malt distillery in that period.

Of course a bigger product range doesn't help if the make is substandard, but the point about Aberlour is that (unlike much better selling whiskies) it never was. Aberlour is like Glen Rothes, it's always been sneaky good, maybe not back in 1970's or early 1980's but its certainly been punching above it's division since 1989.

I only poured myself four drams to taste today.
The whiskies I'm comparing are:

• Aberlour 10yo (40%, OB, bottled circa 1988)
• Aberlour 10yo (40%, OB, bottled circa 2001)
• Aberlour 15yo Sherry Wood Matured (40%, OB, bottled circa 1998)
• Aberlour A'bunadh Batch #6 (59.9%, OB, bottled circa 2000)

Grand Finale: Aberlour 10 Vatting (I mixed the two tens together).
Much nicer, still creamy, but with a dried apricot sulphuriness.
Less bland on the palate. Vatting lives!!
Score: 83 points.
 

Aberlour JOLT 028 - 00:05 GMT - Johannes

Welcome to civilisation, Craig!
I have the same 'autumn' association with this distillery. The A'bunadh is on my winter list in the 'Four Seasons' article on Malt Madness, but that's just because it's excellent cask strength body fuel. As a distillery, Aberlour makes me feel all 'autumny'.

It seems that the general consensus is that we made a good pick with the Aberlour distillery. It isn't one of the 'big names', but like Craig said it's 'punching above its division'. I noticed that there doesn't seem to be a single independent bottling on the menu. Come to think of it, I haven't seen that many independent bottlings of Aberlour on the Dutch shelves in the past. Could it be that the independent bottlers haven't discovered this hidden gem? Unlikely; Pernod/Ricard or the distillery management probably just want to keep maximum grip on the quality of the 'Aberlours' that appear on our shelves. Well, I agree with Craig - they obviously are doing something right...

I really should be getting on with the actual sampling process, but I'd like to briefly get back to the glassware issue. Don't tell me that size doesn't matter!  I don't want to brag, but I think I use the biggest glasses (cognac snifters) on the team - 50 cl. Theoretically, this enables me to empty a litre (100 cl) bottle by pouring myself 2 stiff drams. You can imagine my delight when I recently heard that drinking one or two glasses of whisky per day is actually good for your health...
 

Aberlour JOLT 029 - 00:09 GMT - Davin

Patrick, the Glenmorangie glasses you asked about in message #20 are really quite good for tasting, but don't they feel a bit feminine in your hand?  And where do you hold it?  By the stem?  By the bowl?  The "pure" glass has no stem at all.  It is like a bourbon (that word again) glass, but with a tulip shape and a very heavy bottom.  It just fits in your hand the way a gun does.  You know?  It's like it's made to be there.  As well it has a wonderful little dimple in the bottom that forces the whisky to the edges of the glass, under the protection of the tulip sides, so the nose stay strong until the end.  I have noticed that at first that I was noticing a lot more "dust" in the nose, but I guess I'm habituated to that now.  Anyway I have lots of Glenmorangie glasses, but drink almost exclusively from the Maison du Whisky ones now.

Roman, you are so right about diluting A'bunadh.  I haven't tried it yet tonight, but after reading Serge's article I did a H2H of straight A'bunadh and watered down and it just doesn't take water well at all.  It's not just A'bunadh, but less so; it's actually not that great when watered down. So far I've avoided water tonight altogether!

Further reports on the palate of Aberlour 12yo Double Cask Matured:
Wow!  Pleasant and very different.  A nice sour flash, but not the heavy sour-mash sourness of the 10 yo, but a light and fruity one.  Malty, grassy and quite sherried.  Spicy, with a hint of that Macallan bitterness, but here it is well balanced and enjoyable.  This is a great little malt!  I can't put a name on the spice yet, but it's more than just the alcohol burn that gives that tingle on the tongue.

More later.
 

Aberlour JOLT 030 - 00:12 GMT - Patrick

Davin, I hold the glass by the stem.  It doesn't feel feminine to me, but maybe that's because I am very in touch with my feminine side (if you didn't laugh, I have a very poor sense of humor).  Yeah I don't trust myself with guns so I can't say I know how that feels.  Thanks for the input on watering down the A'bunadh, Davin.  I was thinking about but now I think I will wait.  I try not to dilute cask strengths.  I did with the Bowmore CS, but it was just a small amount, and it made the world of a difference.  But this A'bunadh , it is great as is.

Yes, after sampling the A'bunadh Batch #6 , I can confirm that Aberlour is a sleeper of a distillery.  I am more impressed than I was before.  Klaus and Davin are both saying Macallan this and Macallan that.  Hell, it makes me think that we should have put the two together!  It makes me a little itchy because it would be fun to compare, and I haven't had a Mac in quite some time.  And I do remember the 18yo 1979 to be absolutely smashing.
 

Aberlour JOLT 031 - 00:28 GMT - Davin

Well, Pat, I like the Aberlours too. Overall better than the Macallans.
I have a pretty good collection of Macallans right now, but frankly I am less enamored, especially, of the less expensive ones.  I always seem to find an unpleasant metallic bitterness.  Mac 15 has just dropped in price by about $25 here.

Craig, I just got you notes and, as usual, they're a cut above.  It's the creaminess I was tasting, but missing in the 10 year olds.  I wonder if my two versions are as far apart in age as yours.

Final reports on the Aberlour 12yo Double Cask Matured:
Now a brown sugary, fudginess appears in the nose.  It's really sweet, and there was just a flash of something fishy on the tongue.  The sourness remains, but it's like sour fruit and quite enjoyable.  Shoot!  That's the end of my dram.
Nominal Score: 83 points. A very drinkable whisky.
I'm half-tempted to pour another, but duty calls, so on to the Vintage 1990.
 

Aberlour JOLT 032 - 00:45 GMT - Klaus

My first whisky glasses (a present from my parents) were Calvados glasses. Very nice with glass covers and all, but definitely too small.  Then I switched to the glasses which I think you call Glenmorangie glasses.  They are available with covers of many other distilleries.  Again very nice but still too small.  Now I am using larger nosing glasses (available here with classic malts or Laphroaig label). The size is ok and they are not feminine.

I discovered that the aroma amplification is even greater with large cognac glasses or even (you might laugh now) huge wine glasses. There are very interesting nosing glasses available from the glass manufacturer Riedel.  Especially for miniatures they are excellent, because they are specially designed. You can pour the content of a miniature into the glass and put it on the table and swirl it without spilling the content. Effect: The whole glass surface is covered with malt. You get an immense nosing kick when the malt evaporates. I have seen this glass only once and tried it in action. Fantastic!!!

Now it's time for me to go to bed.
Sweet drams!
 

Aberlour JOLT 033 - 00:47 GMT - Johannes

Goodnight, Klaus.
Sweet drams indeed...

Phew - things have heated up quite a bit since midnight!
Here are my notes on the A'bunadh Batch #6 (59.9%, OB, 4656).
The most notable difference between the old 'batchless' version and Batch #6 'new' is a small difference in alcohol percentage and the addition of a batch number on box and bottle. But there's more... The 'subtitle' on box and label has been changed from 'Original Speyside Single Malt' to 'Non Chill-Filtered Single Speyside Malt'. According to the text on the box of the old version, this bottling wasn't chill-filtered either. It seems Aberlour wanted to emphasize this feature in the new bottlings; not surprising given the fact that there's a trend away from chill-filtration nowadays. The tasting notes on the back of the box are different as well. Let's open the bottle to find out if these tasting notes make more sense than they usually do...

Darned, I had forgotten about the tricky wax seal.
It's a good thing, though; the bottle kept hissing after I poured my first dram - the cork alone didn't seal it perfectly. So, the elaborate wax seal seems to serve a purpose after all.

Nose: Cinnamon! I didn't pick that one up in the previous batch.
This version seems considerably less sherried than the previous one.
Slightly less powerful in the nose as well; at least in the start.
But then it powers up. Sweet and spirity. Rather fruity than sherried.
Dried apples. A little malty, shifting towards nuttiness after a while.
Taste: A deep sherry-sweet burn, changing to burnt toffee and caramel.
Smooth with lots of late fruits in the center. Great balance!
Just enough smoke and wood.

Preliminary conclusion: 88 points. Minor difference in 'quality' to the 'old' A'bunadh, but quite a few in character. Of course, that's the general idea with releasing a 'traditional' malt like the A'bunadh. The nose of Batch #6 isn't as close to the massive sherry style of Macallan as the previous A'bunadh - it's actually more faithfull to the gentler, more balanced character of the Aberlour 15yo and the 'Antique'.

I'll need a H2H-session to investigate further.
 

Aberlour JOLT 034 - 00:58 GMT - Craig

Hi again,

Sorry I missed most of you.

I whimped out on deciding whether the A'bunadh was better than the 15. I was content to leave it a draw - although if someone said which one did you like more then I'd probably choose the A'bunadh, but only if some good quality pure water was handy.
 

Aberlour JOLT 035 - 01:00 GMT - Patrick

On my bottle of A'bunadh #6 it says 'Non Chill Filtered Single Speyside Malt'.
And here are my final notes:
Nose: definite sherry, strong, yes some smoke, fruity, peppermint, wood.
Palate: oh smooth, sweet sherry, cork, full, some dryness, honey?
Finish: very rich, sherry, hot, big, wood.
Score: 92 points . I love the richness.  This malt is big and flavorful, just the way I like them.  This is something unique, I haven't tasted anything like this.

Rating the A'bunadh was tough.
I was thinking between 90-93, more tastings will help round this out.
It is spectacular, big and bold, just what I like.
Like I said, haven't tasted anything like it.

Anyway, the word bourbon has come up a few times.
I have a bottle of Evan Williams Single Barrel that is almost empty.  I'm going to pour a dram and throw my thoughts out there.  I know it's outside the realms of this JOLT; I just wanna finish the bottle and at least get a score for it once.

I don't know how you guys can sample so much, I am already feeling it!
 

Aberlour JOLT 036 - 01:08 GMT - Davin

Whoa, only 4 message waiting.
Looks like you guys are slowing down!

I'm on to the Aberlour Vintage 1990 Edition (40%, OB, purchased 2002, 1 litre) now.
Nose: immediate impression - dry.  Much less sherried than the others so far, which lets a subtle smokiness emerge followed by honey and mild maltiness.  An almost minty fruitiness comes over time in a covered glass.  And now, for the first time, a hint of chocolate.  By the way, have any of you tried the 12 year old double casked?  It's my winner so far tonight, but then I haven't tried the A'bunadh yet.

Palate: For a split second - watery then sweet, spicy, mildly astringent, then almost slippery.  Can't taste the smoke from the nose, and the sherry is way in the background.  Honey develops in the middle.  Becomes quite mouth-filling and a woody, nutty sherry comes through in later sips. Dry and dusty.  The middle has a very pleasant dried grain nuttiness.
Well, the alcohol must be getting to me.  I just poured another dram of the 1990.  Again the first impression is watery, followed by a grainy honey that develops in the side of the mouth,  then a bit of plastic!!?? Yes, that soft plastic I used to chew as a kid.  My, the wonderful things whisky helps you remember.   This whisky is quite different from the other Aberlours, as it is much less sherried.  Ah - just there a flash of licorice.  This is better than I though it would be on first nosing. The finish is sweet, but only medium in length.
Nominal Score: 79 points.

I still haven't got to the A'bunadh. My A'bunadh is from batch 6.  I have a batch 7 unopened, but will leave it that way as I currently have 32 open bottles to deal with. According to the early promo, the batches of A'bunadh will vary; this is a feature of "natural" whiskies that haven't been standardized.  I can think of more cynical reasons, but it is a great whisky by any count.

Pat you have to do a tasting with Johannes.  I did 14 drams, and he pours 'em big, then could hardly walk to the subway.  I thought I was paralyzed, and Johannes had people waiting for him!  Anyway it all worked out and I still felt like a million bucks the next morning.
Whisky is fabulous stuff isn't it?
 

Aberlour JOLT 037 - 01:15 GMT - Johannes

Ah, Patrick - You are still young and unaccustomed to imbibing the large quantities of alcohol the rest of us 'middle aged men' need to forget our daily woes.... I don't want to brag, but a night of drinking with me or my brother has put many alcoholics to shame.

That being said, I have to admit sampling 8 very generous drams in such short time has taken it's toll on me as well. I've somehow switched the glasses in the A'bunadh H2H, so now I don't know for sure which is which. I had planned on tasting all the Aberlours on my table in H2H's, but it seems I can't even properly taste these two versions. One thing is certain, though... both are quite different. One is much more single-minded about it's sherryness than the other.

I have to admit I'm getting very sleepy...
I'm experiencing serious E-mail problems since the last hour as well; I'm afraid I'll have to call it a night. Please continue drinking for as long as you like - and keeping sending those e-mails.

I've had lots of fun tonight. I hope you did as well...

Sweet drams... (indeed)
 

Aberlour JOLT 038 - 01:19 GMT - Patrick

Yes Johannes, this was great!
I had so much fun, I can't wait for the next one.

Your comment about you middle aged men was hilarious, as was Davin's telling me I need to drink with you.  I can't believe that you guys drank that much!  That is something incredible!  Yes this is very wonderful stuff. Craig said 'Sneaky good', eh? After what I have tasted it seemed more like a big bite in the ass.  I heard all the talk about the A'bunadh, and boy did it deliver.

Are you going to keep going Davin?
 

Aberlour JOLT 039 - 01:28 GMT - Davin

Well, It looks like some of you have dropped out.
Yes Pat, I am going to keep going, but I must admit I am slowing down, and my notes may be a bit suspect after the next few sips.  It's almost dinner time here, and I am getting hungry, but I want to finish the A'bunadh and then try it again with water. Let's hear about your bourbon.  I've had a few good ones lately.  I wonder if my nose is just deteriorating with age ;))

On now to Aberlour A'bunadh Batch #6.
(59.9% OB purchased 2001, 750 ml)
Nose: Surprisingly mild.  Rich, sweet and nutty sherry.  But where is all the alcohol? And that slight vinegar, malt vinegar, but it doesn't last.  A woody, almost barnyard smell.
Palate: Rich, ripe, peppery and spicy.  It takes your breath away quite literally as I think Craig said.  I actually gasped.  Sweet and sherried.  Man this is strong stuff, but not overpowering.  I like it without water, but will, in due course, force myself to add some.  There is a slight sourness, woodiness as you swish it around in your mouth.  Numbness quickly follows, but it doesn't hide the malty sweetness that emerges in the middle.  Lots and lots of mouth tingle, though there was none in the nose.  There is some brown sugar in the next sip, and an cooking spice, which Johannes has said tastes like cinnamon.  Yes, maybe cinnamon hearts, but another really hot spice in there as well.
Score: Still at 85 points.

Now Craig, you want water with your A'bunadh. I found (and maybe I added too much water) that the whisky became decidedly less enjoyable with water.  It lost the sweetness and became almost bitter if I remember. In any case a lot less pleasant.
 

Aberlour JOLT 040 - 01:55 GMT - Craig

Nah, I drink it straight, it's just that I like to rinse the mouth every so often, so I'll sip the whisky and after a few minutes I'll slosh some water around and swallow and go back to the whisky. Otherwise I find that my palate loses the edge too quickly.  I agree about not watering the A'bunadh - most really big sherry whiskies don't like water back at all.  I remember an Adelphi Glen Grant (venerable indeed at 32y) that straight was apparently hale and hearty, but with even a few drops of water was effete and fragile like osteo affected bones and that any water destroyed the mystique.  Bourbon wood Islands don't mind water nearly as much.

BtW I think the difference between the first A'bunadh and the Batch 6 was the acetate and acetone and ever so slightly ethery notes in the more recent one.  The 'original' was more focussed in the brandy soaked fruit/sour fruit areas.  I mean both have elements of both characterisitcs, just the balance shifted between vattings.  Bit like the difference between a viola and a cello. The registers overlap a little but not completely.
I agree that the Batch 6 gets a bitter edge if left too long in the glass.

Lots of fun, given that I've had a seven hour nap between contributions. As I said in the piece written before I read any of your comments: Aberlour is 'sneaky good'.
 

Aberlour JOLT 041 - 01:57 GMT - Davin

It looks like it's over, but now a finale - a H2H of A'bunadh and A'bunadh with water.  I think another day I'll go back to the 12 yo double casked and do a H2H with A'bunadh.  I think I may have underrated the 12 yo. 

Aberlour A'bunadh Batch #6 (59.9% OB purchased 2001, 750 ml):

Nose:  With a splash of water it begins much drier.  (ironic eh?)  This makes the cask strength seem even fruitier by comparison.  There is a rich almost fudgy sweetness in the cask strength.  Even covered for several minute the watered version doesn't develop the same richness in the nose.  There is less sherry, but more alcohol - more irony!  Way in the background there is a hint of licorice.  This is new.  A woody maltiness arrives even later.

Palate:  It is very rich, spicy and sweet in the mouth.  There is a bitterness that is not there in the cask strength.  It's not as bad as I had remembered with water added.  It is thick and still a bit astringent.  A hint of burnt toast, and a rich nutty maltiness.

Overall I'd say that with water, the A'bunadh gets a good run for its money from the 12 yo double casked. For sure I'll do a H2H, but for now I'll drink my A'bunadh neat and live with the anesthetic effect.  Hey this would be great stuff for a tooth-ach.  Almost makes me wonder if my dental plan is worth the money!!

With even more water:
Nose: Sweet and sherried.  The alsochol still shines through.
Palate: Sweet and enjoyable.  Not as hot, but still spicy.
Sweeter, but somehow less complex.
Perhaps being the 6th tasting tonight??

Pat I note your comments on bourbons.  I find bourbon is best when you've been drinking malts for a month.  The the difference is enjoyable, but I have yet to find a bourbon that would distract me from Scotch malts.

This live JOLT has really been a lot of fun. Man, it's only 7:45 here and I can feel the malts coursing through my veins as the cliché says. Anyhoo, my family has just arrived home with Chinese Food, so I am off.

Great fun tonight.
 

Aberlour JOLT 042 - 02:59 GMT - Louis

Hello Everybody,

Sorry I missed the JOLT. There aren't as many Aberlour bottlings available here (USA) as in Europe, just the 10, 15, and A'bunadh, and some of the vintages at high prices. The re is a Blackadder which sounds interesting, but Park Ave. gets $50 for it, way to much for a 10 year old. I only have the Abunadh in house, and didn't really need to add the 15 to my open bottle collection.

Having said all of that, it sounds like the 15 is worth trying. I'll definitely keep it on my list of candidates for general purpose dramming. As for the A'bunadh, I can only drink it when it has EXACTLY 5 parts whisky to one part water. Too little water and it gets too spiritiy, too much water and it start to taste pretty ordinary. I prefer the Blackadder 10 year Mortlach (cask strength version) for about the same price.
 

Aberlour JOLT 043 - 07:30 GMT - Krishna

Congratulations for the JOLT participants.

It was a very interesting and informative tasting session. The sad part is I could not be a part of it, even more so because I had an Aberlour some time before. However, I still have the empty carton and a few notes I had kept when I first tasted the stuff in the high Altitude Mountains in the Blue Mountain Region of Southern part of India in July 2001.

The bottle was Aberlour 15yo Double Wood Finish (40%, OB, 100 cl) bought at Park Avenue Bros. in Manhattan which put back my brother's purse by 33 US dollars. It said that is a special bottle matured 14 years first in Bourbon and then in sherry casks and a further one-year in special Oloroso casks selected from Spain by their master distiller Douglas Cruickshank.

I am not sure whether this is the same stuff you guys had in the tasting session. I'll try to reproduce the notes of my tasting session, which I had with two of my friends who incidentally did not know anything about whisky.

Date: July 28, 2001, around 9 p.m
Place: Munnar, a tea estate high in the Blue Mountains, southern part of India.
Temperature: Around 8 degrees Celsius, Raining outside.

Colour: Deep amber
Taste: Very fruity. A bit of toffee?
Flavour : Neither bourbon nor sherry wood flavour. The maturing in both woods had rendered the whisky with neither of its flavours. Very disappointed.
Finish: Very smooth with a hint of metallic finish in the mouth.

Overall observation: The first tasting session has turned out to be disappointing as I had expected a lot from the stuff. The nose was very disappointing. Added to this, I am in the company of uneducated guys who could not throw any positive aspects of the whisky.

I had fished the rest of the bottle some time after with another guy and didn't find any difference. The only thing I can agree is to Johannes's remark that it is a poor man's Macallan.
 

Aberlour JOLT 044 - 12:00 GMT - Johannes

I've woken up about 4 hours ago and have been engrossed in the JOLT-reports ever since. It's amazing how much information a few malt maniacs can produce when you put them behind a keyboard and allow them to drink as much as they want...

Johannes
 

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