Show us your whisky! Vol 2

[whoami]

jammy-git said:

We have far too much whisky in the cabinet now. So much so that there is no room for any new bottles! So I'm on a mission to finish some bottles up (oh poor me). Tonight's empty bottle: Jura Superstition, a lovely dram!

Same for me.

Balblair 1999 at the moment.

Loads of SMWS bottles to crack on with too.

[Podie]

jammy-git said:

We have far too much whisky in the cabinet now. So much so that there is no room for any new bottles! So I'm on a mission to finish some bottles up (oh poor me). Tonight's empty bottle: Jura Superstition, a lovely dram!

WTF?

Go and have a word with yourself.

[Podie]

Joat said:

Moonhawk said:

I bought the Aberlour A' Bunadh Batch 56 last Christmas it's way too strong for me, but at a whopping 61.2%, what could I expect. I've tried it with a little water and although that over powering bite's been taken away I'm left with a bland taste. It's so disappointing as I love Aberlour.



Bought the Aberlour 16 yr old tonight.....................now that's more to my liking

If the A’Bunadh is too strong, add a touch of water.

[Joat]

Podie said:

Joat said:

Moonhawk said:

I bought the Aberlour A' Bunadh Batch 56 last Christmas it's way too strong for me, but at a whopping 61.2%, what could I expect. I've tried it with a little water and although that over powering bite's been taken away I'm left with a bland taste. It's so disappointing as I love Aberlour.



Bought the Aberlour 16 yr old tonight.....................now that's more to my liking

If the A’Bunadh is too strong, add a touch of water.

I think you need to read my post again.

[Bert Cheese]

Batch 58 of A'Bunadh seems to be getting a general panning on the whisky forums too, a shame as its one of the few Speysides I have taken to.
It seems they might be rushing product through, and struggling to find enough decent ex sherry casks to maintain previous standards which made the stuff so popular originally?
I picked it up in the late 40's and still have a couple of batch 52's that I acquired on offer in Waitrose for £32 each a year or two ago, if I see a 58 for the same price I may chance it but so far its been solid at £48 where I'd be looking at Ardbeg or Lagavulin as first choices.
I've heard a few people mention that A'Bunadh in general does not take water well...quite curious as it hovers around the 60% mark?

[jesusbuiltmycar]

Bert Cheese said:

Batch 58 of A'Bunadh seems to be getting a general panning on the whisky forums too, a shame as its one of the few Speysides I have taken to.
It seems they might be rushing product through, and struggling to find enough decent ex sherry casks to maintain previous standards which made the stuff so popular originally?
I picked it up in the late 40's and still have a couple of batch 52's that I acquired on offer in Waitrose for £32 each a year or two ago, if I see a 58 for the same price I may chance it but so far its been solid at £48 where I'd be looking at Ardbeg or Lagavulin as first choices.
I've heard a few people mention that A'Bunadh in general does not take water well...quite curious as it hovers around the 60% mark?

Its currently £38 on Amazon

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Aberlour-ABunadh-Highland...

I bought a bottle earlier this year - it tastes very similar to Lidl's Glen Alba 25 Year old Sherry cask (IMHO)..

[whoami]

Bert Cheese said:

Batch 58 of A'Bunadh seems to be getting a general panning on the whisky forums too, a shame as its one of the few Speysides I have taken to.
It seems they might be rushing product through, and struggling to find enough decent ex sherry casks to maintain previous standards which made the stuff so popular originally?
I picked it up in the late 40's and still have a couple of batch 52's that I acquired on offer in Waitrose for £32 each a year or two ago, if I see a 58 for the same price I may chance it but so far its been solid at £48 where I'd be looking at Ardbeg or Lagavulin as first choices.
I've heard a few people mention that A'Bunadh in general does not take water well...quite curious as it hovers around the 60% mark?

It's currently £38 in Waitrose.

[Podie]

whoami said:

Bert Cheese said:

Batch 58 of A'Bunadh seems to be getting a general panning on the whisky forums too, a shame as its one of the few Speysides I have taken to.
It seems they might be rushing product through, and struggling to find enough decent ex sherry casks to maintain previous standards which made the stuff so popular originally?
I picked it up in the late 40's and still have a couple of batch 52's that I acquired on offer in Waitrose for £32 each a year or two ago, if I see a 58 for the same price I may chance it but so far its been solid at £48 where I'd be looking at Ardbeg or Lagavulin as first choices.
I've heard a few people mention that A'Bunadh in general does not take water well...quite curious as it hovers around the 60% mark?

It's currently £38 in Waitrose.

Not picked one up for a while, but 48 and 49 were stunning.

[LeighW]

Bert Cheese said:

Batch 58 of A'Bunadh seems to be getting a general panning on the whisky forums too, a shame as its one of the few Speysides I have taken to.

I haven't tried the 58, my last one was a 56 which I really liked. I was at Aberlour on Saturday for a tour, and IMO they're back on form with the 59. I like to first taste an A'bunadh neat and enjoy the 'slap in the face', and then add water which takes the edge off.

Apologies that this post is slipping slightly into 'Holiday' rather than 'Food & Drink', but if any speyside fans are looking at touring distilleries, I can highly recommend Aberlour. For just £15 you get a very enjoyable guided tour, followed by this:





The tasting was worth the admission on its own to me. The only one I wasn't a huge fan of was the 15, which seemed too heavily sherried without much of a finish. I bought a batch 59, a 10, and quite a selection of tat from the shop...

[Podie]

I'd go for the "Casks from the Past" at Aberlour... far more varied range (and some stuff that's not on sale).

Did you get the "pour your own" casks?

[LeighW]

Podie said:

I'd go for the "Casks from the Past" at Aberlour... far more varied range (and some stuff that's not on sale).

Did you get the "pour your own" casks?

No, we just did the basic tour as it was our first time in speyside, and we were only there for a couple of days. It's on the list for next year though!

[Podie]

LeighW said:

Podie said:

I'd go for the "Casks from the Past" at Aberlour... far more varied range (and some stuff that's not on sale).

Did you get the "pour your own" casks?

No, we just did the basic tour as it was our first time in speyside, and we were only there for a couple of days. It's on the list for next year though!

If you've done a basic tour, you'll largely find that most distilleries are pretty similar.

Balvenie is worth a look (it has a cooperage) and make sure you join the Balvenie club thing (free) as you get an extra dram. Pop into Glenfiddich, tour the shop but don't bother with the tour. Whisky shop in Dufftown is worth a visit too.

[whoami]

Podie said:

whoami said:

Bert Cheese said:

Batch 58 of A'Bunadh seems to be getting a general panning on the whisky forums too, a shame as its one of the few Speysides I have taken to.
It seems they might be rushing product through, and struggling to find enough decent ex sherry casks to maintain previous standards which made the stuff so popular originally?
I picked it up in the late 40's and still have a couple of batch 52's that I acquired on offer in Waitrose for £32 each a year or two ago, if I see a 58 for the same price I may chance it but so far its been solid at £48 where I'd be looking at Ardbeg or Lagavulin as first choices.
I've heard a few people mention that A'Bunadh in general does not take water well...quite curious as it hovers around the 60% mark?

It's currently £38 in Waitrose.

Not picked one up for a while, but 48 and 49 were stunning.

Agreed.

It does seem pretty variable and inconsistent between batches though.

[Podie]

whoami said:

Podie said:

whoami said:

Bert Cheese said:

Batch 58 of A'Bunadh seems to be getting a general panning on the whisky forums too, a shame as its one of the few Speysides I have taken to.
It seems they might be rushing product through, and struggling to find enough decent ex sherry casks to maintain previous standards which made the stuff so popular originally?
I picked it up in the late 40's and still have a couple of batch 52's that I acquired on offer in Waitrose for £32 each a year or two ago, if I see a 58 for the same price I may chance it but so far its been solid at £48 where I'd be looking at Ardbeg or Lagavulin as first choices.
I've heard a few people mention that A'Bunadh in general does not take water well...quite curious as it hovers around the 60% mark?

It's currently £38 in Waitrose.

Not picked one up for a while, but 48 and 49 were stunning.

Agreed.

It does seem pretty variable and inconsistent between batches though.

True, but then that's part of the appeal. They let the casks do the work, and when it's gone, it's gone.

[LeighW]

Podie said:

LeighW said:

Podie said:

I'd go for the "Casks from the Past" at Aberlour... far more varied range (and some stuff that's not on sale).

Did you get the "pour your own" casks?

No, we just did the basic tour as it was our first time in speyside, and we were only there for a couple of days. It's on the list for next year though!

If you've done a basic tour, you'll largely find that most distilleries are pretty similar.

Balvenie is worth a look (it has a cooperage) and make sure you join the Balvenie club thing (free) as you get an extra dram. Pop into Glenfiddich, tour the shop but don't bother with the tour. Whisky shop in Dufftown is worth a visit too.

Agreed, once you've done one tour, they are quite similar. I've been to a few distilleries before (Talisker, Glen Ord, Glengoyne etc), but never speyside, and our friends had never been to one at all. We went to the whisky shop in Dufftown, visited Macallan, and did the '9 distillery' walking tour in Dufftown, which was very entertaining (17 drams included as well). Stayed at the Mash Tun in Aberlour - nice rooms, great food, friendly, knowledgeable staff, and an awesome selection of whiskies. Two evenings in there were more than enough for one liver to deal with...

[Podie]

LeighW said:

Podie said:

LeighW said:

Podie said:

I'd go for the "Casks from the Past" at Aberlour... far more varied range (and some stuff that's not on sale).

Did you get the "pour your own" casks?

No, we just did the basic tour as it was our first time in speyside, and we were only there for a couple of days. It's on the list for next year though!

If you've done a basic tour, you'll largely find that most distilleries are pretty similar.

Balvenie is worth a look (it has a cooperage) and make sure you join the Balvenie club thing (free) as you get an extra dram. Pop into Glenfiddich, tour the shop but don't bother with the tour. Whisky shop in Dufftown is worth a visit too.

Agreed, once you've done one tour, they are quite similar. I've been to a few distilleries before (Talisker, Glen Ord, Glengoyne etc), but never speyside, and our friends had never been to one at all. We went to the whisky shop in Dufftown, visited Macallan, and did the '9 distillery' walking tour in Dufftown, which was very entertaining (17 drams included as well). Stayed at the Mash Tun in Aberlour - nice rooms, great food, friendly, knowledgeable staff, and an awesome selection of whiskies. Two evenings in there were more than enough for one liver to deal with...

Sounds like you acquitted yourself quite well

The Mash Tun is lovely.

Mrs Podie and I are huge Aberlour fans... managed to find a few independent bottlings over the years, and the Bourbon cask from the distillery is a real interesting change.

[LeighW]

Podie said:

Sounds like you acquitted yourself quite well

The Mash Tun is lovely.

It's the first time I've had whisky with my breakfast, that's for sure.

I told them I didn't like smokey whisky. 'Try this', they said.



My. God. Smokey initially, but then in seconds, an amazing sweet finish, just incredible. I'm going to get a bottle, and enjoy it with some strong blue cheese.

[whoami]

LeighW said:

My. God. Smokey initially, but then in seconds, an amazing sweet finish, just incredible. I'm going to get a bottle, and enjoy it with some strong blue cheese.

I've got a couple of bottles of the batch 4/505, 2016 bottling.

I'm unimpressed with it.

[Podie]

LeighW said:

Podie said:

Sounds like you acquitted yourself quite well

The Mash Tun is lovely.

It's the first time I've had whisky with my breakfast, that's for sure.

I told them I didn't like smokey whisky. 'Try this', they said.



My. God. Smokey initially, but then in seconds, an amazing sweet finish, just incredible. I'm going to get a bottle, and enjoy it with some strong blue cheese.

Ah, the "breakfast whisky" discussion reminds me of the PH tasting nights. Which reminds me - must organise another!

[pmanson]

Podie said:

Ah, the "breakfast whisky" discussion reminds me of the PH tasting nights. Which reminds me - must organise another!