Aberlour A'bunadh

Now my wife and I had been trying for months to get to the whisky bar, Helvetica. We'd had all sorts of issues preventing us from going to this bar such as sickness, conflicting work schedules, lack of money, bar being closed when we're free and an emergency appendicitis. Now after all of these problems we were finally here!!

Our date had started with my wife and Glenfarclas 12 yr old at dinner, then Yamazaki 12 yr old, Hakushu 12 yr old, and Glenmorangie Nectar D'or, Amrut Fusion and Glenmorangie Astar.

While drinking the Amrut Fusion we were joined by my sister and brother in law who'd been waiting in another level of the bar since we walked in and who we'd missed.

Next on the menu was Aberlour Abunadh!

Now this was one of the whiskies that I'd really been looking forward to and was now extremely worried about.

Why you might ask?

While I'd been drinking my Glenmorangie Astar my sister in law had ordered a glass of Aberlour Abunadh.

And didn't like it.

Really didn't like it.

Mind you she didn't add any water to it until after I told her to. And I don't think she added nearly enough water to it, adding just a drop or two to try and open it up...

But she pretty much put it aside and wouldn't touch it again.

Please oh god please let this be a good whisky.

I order my Aberlour Abunadh and then specifically ask for the batch number. The waitress blinks at me for a moment then goes to get me my drink. When she hands me my drink she quietly informs me that it's from batch 35.

Batch 35.

My first Abunadh.

Here goes!

I nose this Aberlour and I pray as I am a huge Aberlour fan ever since my first 10 yr old bottle. And Holy Cow!!!

Red vine licorice dominates the nose, cherries, sherry (not surprising this is SUPPOSED to be a sherry bomb!) along with vanilla and oak. I swear I detect a hint of dark chocolate, but no one else says that they can smell that. Maybe I'm crazy.

I start getting wrapped up with the conversation and I take a very small sip unthinking.

Oh Sweet Baby Jebus!!! I can't breath!!!

This small little sip knocks my breath out. BAM!!!!

The cherries and sherry PUNCH me in the mouth and it's Rocky Time! I'm on my 10 count and I don't think I'm coming back up from this one.

HAHAHAHA Everyone laughs as I try to breath. I wind up joining in once it won't make me pass out from lack of oxygen.

I then take my little pitcher of water and add a very generous amount of water, roughly a 2:1 per Abunadh.

The whisky opens up beautifully.

Nose is the same, lovely and beautiful, but not quite the punch in the face.

Flavor though, it's thick enough to chew!! There is a creamy mouth texture and the cherries and sherry once again dominate, but in the mix is dark chocolate coming through beautifully with a hint of vanilla.

Even better is my sister in law looks extremely puzzled and informs us that she likes my Aberlour much better then the one she received.

The glass is passed around the table and everyone comments that this is a STRONG beautiful whisky here. It is no shrinking violet. If you want you whisky soft and subtle. Turn around. You WILL be disappointed.

The finish is LONG with the sherry and cherries hanging on the entire time and just a bit of alcohol bite on the end.

Thank you Aberlour!!

You did not let me down at all.

My first taste of Abunadh is SPECTACULAR!!

Now I wanna catch and taste them all!!

This is an AWESOME whisky that I enjoyed a ton. It's out there and in your face the entire time. This is a whisky I'd be drinking on a cold winters night sitting around the fire with the family.

Even better is that this bottle is available in many aussie liquor stores for roughly $100 AUS or so which makes it fairly affordable. Batch numbers will of course vary.

Next on the menu after MUCH palate cleansing will be one I've been waiting months to try and I've heard nothing but EXCELLENT things about.

Old Potrero 18th Century Rye!!