Aberfeldy – 18 Years Old

Aberfeldy 
18 Years Old 
John Dewars & Sons Ltd

ABV: 40%
Style: Single Malt
Region: Highland
Price per bottle: £86.75
Bottling: Distillery
Availability: Travel Retail

Rob Allanson – 8.0 

Nose: Gentle at first then sweet chilli spice starts to build. Soft orchard fruits, apples pears and plum jam. Peaches in honey. Then the oak comes through with cherrywood. Fresh rye bread, scones and jam.

Palate: A little herbal soap then strawberries with balsamic vinegar and cracked black pepper spice. Grilled pineapples and toasted walnut.

Finish: Long and tangy with those wood tannins trying to grip. Plenty of fruit crumble sweetness.

Comments: Lacks a little punch, but this is a lovely liquid form of crumble made from windfall orchard fruits.

Christopher Coates – 7.9 

Nose: Unmistakable lychee, like Suze liqueur, a little rose water, vanilla pod, and the merest whiff of Durian. Underneath is foundation of lemon and jasmine green tea with a slice of fresh green apple.

Palate: Cordial-like. Apple-flavoured boiled sweets. Fresh jackfruit and blackberries. The lychee note is still there, but more syrupy and lingering behind with a retronasal note of cut flower stems.

Finish: Fades to green apple skin and jasmine, with the merest hint of bitter tea.

Comments: Like taking a stroll in a South East Asian fruit market.