Let The Battle Commence... Aberlour 12 Year & Cadenhead’s Aberlour 21 Year

Well it was inevitably going to happen; this blog-post is my first bourbon versus sherry wood comparison. For the uninitiated, whisky is matured in oak casks for a minimum of three years. The majority of a whisky’s flavour and its entire colour come from the time in the cask. The more you immerse yourself in the world of whisky the more different types of cask you will hear about; from Madeira to Amarone, from hogsheads to puncheons – there are a lot. However two types of cask are most widely used to apply flavour to a whisky. The first are ex-bourbon barrels from the United States, these give vanilla flavours to a whisky and the other are sherry barrels from Spain that can give an array of flavours but dried fruits and spices are classic examples. Originally sherry casks were the dominant cask type as they were more accessible than bourbon casks, but with better transport links bourbon has overtaken sherry in the race to supply the Scottish whisky industry. I have been told that a bourbon cask is about the fifth of the price of a sherry cask, hence why they now dominate the industry (although a revival of the sherry cask is well underway). In fact, George Grant of Glenfarclas told an audience of a tasting I was at that the sherry industry now exists solely to provide barrels for the whisky industry, as in this day-and-age fewer people are drinking sherry. Commonly a combination of each cask is used to get the right balance of flavour. Today I will be reviewing a sherry cask and a bourbon cask and comparing the two.

Aberlour 12 Year Old
48% - Predominately Sherry Cask – Exclusive French Bottling
Nose: Toffee and red apple (toffee apple?) with rich spices tingling.
Palate: Rich and dry with raisins, cinnamon and that recurring toffee flavour.
Finish: Slight off-wood I sometimes get with sherry cask whiskies, but rescued with ample amounts of wood spice.
Overall: A good whisky, classic sherry flavours, a little uncomplex but would be a good whisky to have if you don’t want to consider it too deeply.

Cadenhead’s Aberlour 21 Year Old
57.5% - Bottled by Cadenhead’s – Bourbon Hogshead – 282 Bottles Produced
Nose: A buttery’s worth of butter, spiced with nutmeg and vanilla, with hints of that classic Aberlour red apple.
Palate: Creamy with all that butter from the nose, heavy on the vanilla and spice.
Finish: Long but hot thanks to the high ABV, tobacco concludes this boisterous dram.
Overall: The rich butter and vanilla qualities offset with the spice lead to an intriguing and questioning whisky. The 12 year old was pleasant but this whisky is the winner. Probably the biggest unpeated bourbon cask whisky I’ve tried.

Tangoed... Four Roses Single Barrel

I have long been searching for orange things from the United States of America aside from Sunny Delight, the Hoff's face and the OC. It has taken me many years and now I have found it. The orange zest notes I get from rye whiskey are the way forward. As I have previously mentioned I struggle with American whiskey. Not because I think it is anyway bad but purely because the flavour disagrees with me in quantities larger than half a glass. So when I discovered rye whiskey I was very pleased indeed. Rye whiskey has a flavour I enjoy very much and I have our cross-Atlantic cousins to thank. In my quest to try more and more of these whiskies I have had to rely on samples kindly donated to me from fellow whisky fans. There was one whiskey that I was very curious to try and that was the Four Roses, then last Saturday the whiskey presented itself to me in a small sample bottle, and here are my thoughts:

Four Roses Single Barrel
50% - No Age Statement - Kentucky Bourbon
Nose: A tango of satsuma and tangerine, orange zest and those classic rye notes coming through.
Palate: Cumin, fresh squeezed orange juice, nice and creamy.
Finish: Orange cream liqueur, sweet and light.
Overall: A fantastic rye whiskey showing me the way forward, now to get my hands on some more Four Roses bottlings!

Have your cake and eat it too - Auchentoshan Valinch

There is a dilemma that grabs us all whether we be outgoing or introverted, big or small, rich or poor, animal, vegetable or mineral. We all at some point have to choose between two desserts. I am by nature a very impulsive person and in no way do I look far enough into the future when making decisions. I couldn't count the amount of times I have had to do a week's food shop on £10 because I have decided that I should try multiple new beers or take a holiday that I can't afford. I would like to say that this is out of some carpe diem worldview or out of an unashamed consumerist appetite but I would be lying. Like many or even most people I would like to have my cake and eat it - and then a slice of yours.

So we've all been faced with the option of two puddings and have had to choose between them be they cake, ice cream or pannacotta. For me, the decision between a coffee cake and a quality victoria sponge is the worst I could be forced to make. Then I was presented with a mind-blowing compromise, and it comes served up in a Glencairn glass. The whisky is the Auchentoshan Valinch, a new bourbon matured release that is bottled at cask-strength and named after the pipette used to draw whisky out of the cask. This reinvisioning of the Auchentoshan Classic has a lot going for it. Oh and I forgot to mention… it tastes of two desserts.

Auchentoshan Valinch
57.5% - No Age Statement - Ex-Bourbon Cask
Nose: Creme brulee is the first desert to arrive in abundant quantities followed by our second, the subtle, yet thoroughly present lemon meringue pie. Finally there is a nutty quality with hints of ginger and cinnamon biscuits.
Palate: Very bourbon influenced here with a citric element that rises towards the roof of the mouth.
Finish: Clean, the high ABV is very real here and cuts to a lingering nutty woodiness.
Overall: Warms the stomach and combines two desserts on the nose. An excellent aperitif whisky.