I have had the pleasure of visiting Aberlour distillery deep in the heart of Speyside a couple of times over the last couple of years and it is a place that always gives you a warm welcome ! Aberlour to me always brings up thoughts of big sherried beasts such as A’bunadh, that full throttle batch release that all sherried whisky fans love. But of course there are plenty of other expressions from them in the core range that just scream quality, we have all tried that classic 10yo that is matured in the same way as this 12yo, that is in both ” traditional oak ” and seasoned ” sherry butts” so compared to the 10 yo how has the extra 2 years added to the flavours and aromas ..
As mentioned earlier this is matured in both traditional and sherry casks, bottled at 40% ..
Nose.. Starts off with some gentle wood spices before getting a mixture of dried fruits and fresh fruit aromas, dates mix with fresh apple peel, raisins mingling with fresh orange juice and hints of chocolate covered almonds. Apple strudel, burnt sugars and toffee along with damp oak all are found in lurking beneath the surface.
Palate.. You get the dried fruit and gentle spices but they are wrapped up in a thick coating of oak.. There is a gentle sweetness that carries through. Maple syrup, caramel and toffee are there along with chocolate and a hint of ginger.
Finish.. Short and oaky.
Thoughts.. For a 12yo entry level malt this does what it is intended to do, that is, it’s a simple dram, it’s not an overly sherried dram, it is simply something that you can just sit down with and sip, there is no need to over analyse this.. Just open the bottle, pour and enjoy..
ocdwhisky.com 
A simple dram than just manages to hit the spot every time.
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