Aberfeldy 21 Years Old (40%, OB, 2014)

• Category: Highland single malt scotch whisky
• Origin: Aberfeldy Distillery
• Bottling: Official – Bacardi
• ABV: 40% ABV,
• Cost: £115

What they say:

Launched in October of 2005, this 21 year old lies at the core of the Aberfeldy range and is something of a flagship for the brand. Recently re-branded as part of Aberfeldy Distillery’s move away from their old Red Squirrel logo – a hangover from their time as part of UDV’s Flora and Fauna Range.

What I say:

Aberfeldy 21 is their flagship dram; though most people will be more familiar with the 12 Year Old expression in their standard range. Currently Aberfeldy are going through a lot of revamp and rebranding including major alterations to their distillery to install a biomass generator, making their malt more environmentally friendly. Abefeldy Distillery (or Dewar’s World of Whisky) is well worth a visit and even more so now after their recent renovations to the visitor centre. We recently popped back up for a visit and a very detailed and educational whisky geek tour (as part of the May 2014 whisky month celebrations). The Aberfeldy range is expanding rapidly to include all sorts of special bottlings (similar to the Bruichladdich Valinch type range) and also exclusive visitor centre bottle your own/straight from the cask expressions also. More on those soon…

Colour:

Full gold, medium tears

Nose:

Orange marmalade, honey, fragrant oaky wood, heather, toffee, butterscotch, cereal barley malt, apple, banana (ester), fruity, cream

Taste:

Creamy toffee, thick and creamy oak wood, cereal barley malt, honey, smooth and silky butterscotch, clotted cream fudge

Finish:

Smooth medium/short

Would I buy it:

Aberfeldy 21 year old is a perfect smooth and silky dram with wonderful flavours of creamy toffee and honey. While I enjoyed sampling this, I wasn’t really blown away by it. The sherry and smoke influences I have heard others describe in this dram didn’t really make an appearance to me. Sadly it is so silky and smooth it is almost forgettable. While that is an achievement in itself, I prefer drams that make their presence felt with a much bigger impact than this. Incredibly refined it is a pleasure to dram but again I find myself lacking the willpower to commit to wanting a whole bottle. We were also spoilt with much more characterful Aberfeldy expressions during our visit which made the 21yo pale in comparison.

Score: 85/100

Available from Master of Malt and The Whisky Exchange

Don’t take my word for it:

http://www.whiskypapa.com/aberfeldy-21-year-old-whisky-92100

http://www.somersetwhisky.com/review-aberfeldy-21-year-old/