Happy Whisky Wednesday! Tonight I decided to do something special for everyone. I am a huge fan of @aberlour A’bunadh Cask Strength. The earliest batch number I have had to date was batch 50. Well, recently my fellow whisky nut @boozedonkey sent me a sample of batch 30! There has been claims that the newer batches are not as good as the older batches… Particularity the 30’s. So tonight I am going to do a side-by-side comparison of batch 30 and 60.
Colour: As you can see in the picture the batch 30(on the left) is noticeably darker. I called it Mahogany and batch 60(on the right) Dark Amber.
Nose:
Batch 30- Almonds, Maple syrup, blackberries, stewed dark fruit, candied orange peel brushed with Sherry.
Batch 60- Orange Zest, Sherry, Oak, Fruitcake, Nutmeg
Palate:
Batch 30- Warm Cherry cough syrup, Ginger, Cracked black pepper, cedar
Batch 60- Dark Chocolate, more fruitcake, burnt orange peel
Finish:
Batch 30- Long, Orange syrup, light smoked pepper.
Batch 60- Long, Christmas Spices and pepper.
First of all..I am splitting hairs here… These are both fantastic Sherry-rich drams! However, I would have to say that batch 30 has more depth and complexity. There is a lot going on here. And for that reason I am giving it the slight edge. I am giving both of these expressions very high marks because I feel when it comes to Sherry bombs… It doesn’t get much better…
Rating: Batch 30- 9.5 out of 10
Batch 60- 9.3 out of 10 @ Courtenay, British Columbia
Blue Collar