Bought – Waitrose, 15th October 2013
Ratings:
95/100 – Whisky Bible 2015
86.81/100 – Whiskybase (average from 200 member votes)
89/100 – Ralfy, of www.ralfy.com
Review: – Ralfy – Aberlour A’bunadh Batch 42 – YouTube
Although Ralfy’s review is for Batch 42 rather than Batch 45 I thought I’d include it because he covers some useful information about this particular brand of Aberlour. The Whisky Bible 2013 only reviews as far as Batch 41 but gives marks for a total of 16 different batches. The lowest mark is 81.5/100 but 10 out of the 16 reviewed score 90 or more. The best mark is 96/100 for Batch 33. Ralfy’s comments about the high standards Aberlour apply to this whisky gives a lot of confidence. [Update – added Whisky Bible 2015 score of 95/100, which is a fantastic score]
The reason why this particular whisky was on my wish list is because it appears in the book ‘101 Whiskies to Try Before You Die’ by Ian Buxton. He says the A’bunadh has been gaining quite a following over recent years because of its big, rich flavours. And at 60.2% cask strength ‘big’ is certainly the word for it! I feel a taste test coming on between this A’bunadh and the Glenfarclas 105.
Update – the Glenfarclas 105 lost by a mile. Although it’s a fine dram in its own right the A’bunadh had far more complexity in both the nose and taste. Batch 45 is without doubt one of my favourite whiskies of all time.
Whisky Den 