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Aberlour A'bunadh

Lush and Luscious Batch # 54

0 894

@VictorReview by @Victor

16th Aug 2016

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Aberlour A'bunadh
  • Nose
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  • Taste
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  • Finish
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  • Balance
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  • Overall
    94

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Distribution of ratings for this: brand user

I thank @mscottydunc for the reviewed sample

Nose: acrid sharp sherry with almost exclusively medium and high pitches; this one starts on the dry and austere side but acquires a good sweet balance with a few minutes in the glass. This is a good A'bunadh nose, and even has a touch of candied cherry to it. It needs some air time for best effect, though. Water brings out high-pitched sweetness together with some lower toned fruit flavours. Score: 22.5/25

Taste: far more thick and lush in the mouth than in the nose--I love it! Great sweet and dry balance; mouth-puckeringly tart despite great lush sweet fruitiness. Wonderful wine fruitiness with good clean sherry casks. Water added accentuates a sharp-edged tartness. I much prefer this without water. Score: 24/25

Finish: long; continues intense sharp sourness accompanying excellent balancing sweetness. With water added the finish drifts more toward the sour. Not as good with water. Score: 23.5/25

Balance: good in the nose; excellent thereafter. Score: 24/25

Total Sequential Score: 94 points

Strength: strong flavours in the nose; very strong flavours in the mouth. Score: 24/25

Quality: very good to excellent flavours throughout. Score: 23.5/25

Variety: plenty of shades of flavour within the sherry wine residue. Score: 22.5/25

Harmony; very good to excellent harmony throughout the tasting phases. Score: 23.5/25

Total Non-Sequential Score: 93.5 points

Comment: this is just the way I like my sherried malts-- thick, lush, clean, intense, and undiluted. This Aberlour A'bunadh Batch # 54 reminds me a lot of Amrut Intermediate Sherry, Batch # 5 in its cleanliness, its lushness, and its intensity. That is extremely high praise. A'bunadh Batch # 54 is a top tier batch and I highly recommend it

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8 comments

@Ol_Jas
Ol_Jas commented

I just bought a #54 thanks to this review. Thanks, Victor.

8 years ago 0

@Victor
Victor commented

@OlJas, good to hear. I hope that you enjoy Batch # 54 as much as I do.

8 years ago 0

T
TheGrimm commented

Great review, Victor. The A'bunadh (batch 50) was definitely a big hit here at work among my colleagues. Although I must say I tend to favor the Aberlour 16 year old double cask over the A'bunadh. With the latter, you definitely need to time your inhalations so as to not get kicked in the lungs.

8 years ago 0

@Victor
Victor commented

@TheGrimm, thanks for joining in.

Some of us really do like to "...get kicked in the lungs" with the high-test stuff.

8 years ago 0

@MaltActivist
MaltActivist commented

I got gifted the 53. I was really happy to see that. But now I wish it was the 54. Thanks for that!

8 years ago 0

@Ol_Jas
Ol_Jas commented

So I opened my 54 and I'd say it's fine but nothing special. I think this shows that sherry bombs just don't do much for me.

Thanks, Victor, for holding up 54 as a prime exemplar of good modern sherry bombery. Now I feel pretty sure that the explanation for my lukewarm opinion on sherried malts is my own particular taste, rather than the quality of what I'd been trying.

I'll keep trying them here and there, but it'll probably be a while before I again spend my Laphroaig 10 CS money on an A'Bunadh!

8 years ago 0

@Nozinan
Nozinan commented

@Oljas you're extremely lucky to have the opportunity to spend that Laphroaig 10 CS money. Some of us can only wish...

You bring up a solid point, checking back now and again. From my own experience I started off as a Sherry bomb lover. Later I started to appreciate Peated whiskies, but it was only in the last 2 years or so, aided by some really good stuff, that I have started to appreciate bourbon-matured single malts.

8 years ago 0

@Robert99
Robert99 commented

@Nozinan Unfortunately for my wallet, right from the beginning, I loved them all. I have been blessed and cursed. I don't know which one but I sure know it's fun.

8 years ago 0