Aberlour A’Bunadh Batch 67 review

Aberlour A’Bunadh series is definitely a legend in the whisky world. Name deriving from Gaelic, meaning “return to origin”. Because it’s been produced with methods commonly used around 1870’s. Here’s the backstory taken from Wikipedia:

“The distillery cite the story during distillery tours that when the second pair of stills were put in during 1975, a time capsule was discovered behind the name plate, containing an 1898 newspaper about the distillery fire wrapped around an 1898 bottle of Aberlour. The workmen who discovered the bottle polished off four fifths of the bottle during their lunch break, but the remains of the bottle went off to the laboratories in Keith, Moray, and were analysed. A’bunadh is an attempt to recreate this single malt.”

Each A’Bunadh is a limited small batch work of art. Without age statement, matured in Spanish Oloroso sherry butts, bottled cask strength. Before 67, I’ve managed to try Batch 47 and it was is great. Check out my thoughts on Batch 67, below its picture.

Aberlour A'Bunadh Batch 67 - review of the classic cask strength Speyside single malt whisky

Batch 67 comes with a new A’Bunadh package and bottle design

Tasting notes

Batch 67 was just like I imagined, full of flavor and quality, but not quite there with Batch 47. This might be nostalgia, I know that it plays a big part in our tasting senses.

You always hear talks like old batches were better than the new ones. I believe that most of the time it’s our mind playing tricks with us. But occasionally it can be quality inconsistency or batch variation.

Based on those experiences, I was expecting this to come close to the quality of older A’Bunadh but not quite there. Most don’t consider Batch 47 old, though…anyway, yet again good craftsmanship by Aberlour.

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Matured in:

Ex-Oloroso Sherry butts

ABV: 59.8%

Non-chill filtered, no added colour

Colour: Light mahogany

Nose: I was surprised how mellow the aromas felt. Quality nose of dark fruits, nutmeg and vanilla, though. Not as kick ass as Batch 47, but still nice. Hints of oranges and dark chocolate rise from the back, along with some creamy notes.

Taste: Very full palate. Sweet cranberry jam dominates. Lemon zest and nutty notes are in the mix. Also cherries, cream and sugary barley jumped in when you really chew it. Best part of this whisky for sure.

Finish: Sweet and dry sherry notes. Bitter cocoa is there. Very long finish. Has some crispy citrus notes as well.

Balance: A’Bunadh quality quarantee is there again, no doubt about it. It might be that these newer batches aren’t capable to challenge the very first batches. At least if you read reviews regarding the subject. But we should be satisfied with these newer expressions as well. They are still a showcase of quality whisky.