Aberlour 12 year old Non Chill-Filtered review

Like the title says, this is a single malt whisky without chill-filtering by the Aberlour distillery. 12 years old and matured in Ex-Sherry butts and Ex-Bourbon casks. There’s also been a 12 year old Aberlour, which has been chill-filtered. Comparing those two would actually be a great blog post subject. This revamped version also has a higher alcohol per volume level, so it’s closer to its original flavor profiles.

Aberlour seems to be making great decisions. First the incredibly popular A’Bunadh series and now this (per se) improved version of a single malt whisky, which is already in the “great deal” category, if you ask any whisky enthusiast.

This whisky is going BACK TO THE FUTURE

This whisky has character, I can imagine it has much more mouth feel than the regular Aberlour 12YO. Haven’t tasted the regular one though, so I can’t be sure. Still, Aberlour 12YO Non Chill-Filtered is probably one of the great examples, what whisky without chill-filtering can be at its best.

The sherry butts do stand out more than the bourbon casks, but this whisky is a nice mixture of both of the cask types. In nice balance, offering a rich taste profile, I hope that more distilleries start to make these kind of changes in their core range. This single malt very much brings me the Back to the Future movie in mind. Like Aberlour had gone back in time to make the future better.

Matured in:

Ex-Bourbon casks and Ex-Sherry butts

Colour: Dark amber

Nose: Dry sherry and hints of rubber at the start. Dried plums along with salty and breezing mint. Salty fig, yet with a sugar coating. Toffee comes with time in the glass. Water adds vanilla.

Taste: Nice mix of sugar and warming cinnamon. Bit creamy with hints of toffee. Hints of sherry and great, strong fruity notes. Water makes the taste even much better – buttery vanilla and crispy fresh, dry fruits.

Finish: Warming spices come through delicately, with hints of minty breeze. Medium long, versatile and smooth finish. Dark chocolate and lots of other bitter notes as well.

Balance: Let it open up a while in the cabinet. Very rich and versatile dram.