This bottle is a bottling for the Polish market, selected by La Maison du Whisky, and bought by Jack Tar Holding. Obviously, I didn’t put that in the title, because it would be a three line heading.

Anyway, this sample came from the same bunch as the three great Caroni I reviewed recently, also by Jack Tar. There have been other whisky releases but I haven’t seen these online, except when checking the Jack Tar website itself. Apparently there was a set of Japanese whiskies, and a 1995 Glenlivet.

Anyway, Aberlour. A bit of a strange whisky if you ask me. There have been some real crackers from their distillery own bottlings, but they are mostly known for the two extremes that they put out on a regular basis. A very gentle and easy-going normal range, and their rocket fuel style A’bunadh series on the other end.

I hope (well, hoped, I’ve already tried it) this one sits somewhere in the middle!

Sniff:
Lots of gentle oak, a bit of a lemony freshness. Apple pie with lots of baked apple, crusty dough, some cinnamon. Strudel, with a bit of that weak custard that comes with it. Some mossy twigs. Wild peaches, after some time.

Sip:
The palate is quite stacked with black pepper. There’s dry oak and apple strudel. Leafy greens like ferns, some hints of moss too. Baked apple, cinnamon, brown sugar. Syrupy, and more and more spicy.

Swallow:
The finish brings quite some old oak, woth a hint of pepper too. Slightly earthy, pastry with some lemon freshness, ferns.

I remembered that Ruben also tried it and found this a very good one as well. He found lots of waxy notes, but to my they were more syrupy. Interesting how similar whiskies can be interpreted differently, but with very similar results.

In short, I find this a very, very good Aberlour. The combination of the sweeter apple pie notes, combined with the more crisp and green notes of ferns and moss really works well.

The best Aberlour I’ve had to date.

Highly recommended, and still available in the secondary market for some € 350

90/100