Hand-filled whisky | Whisky Lady

I will admit to having a weakness for a sherry bomb or two. While not my ‘everyday dram’, when in the mood for something robust and very berry good, nothing beats it.

Aberlour‘s A’bunadh is a particularly good example of a full cask strength sherry bomb that remains in the affordable category.

No surprise then that this 1st fill sherry cask Aberlour was a hit!

Last in our special “filled by hand” distillery trio, it was quite the whisky.

Hand filled Abelour 16 year

Aberlour 16 year (10 June 1995 / 6 Sept 2011) Cask No 2303 (1st fill sherry), Bottle No 180, 57.2%

Here is what we found:

Nose – Gorgeous sherry! Figs, plums, juicy dark fruit, nuts, christmas cake, chocolate, dates, orange peel, vanilla
Palate – Woodsy dry edge, bit bitter, light balsa then softened to settle into a balanced sweet, bursting with raisins
Finish – Rich plums
Water – Not necessary but doesn’t hurt. The little extra spice adds something, rounds it out further and opens up to reveal ginger

Overall – a very palatable, rich, sherry bomb that goes down beautifully well.

While thoroughly enjoyable, when it came time to chose my preferred dram to accompany my panatela cigar, I will admit reaching for the Glenmorangie as the Aberlour was fabulous to sample but almost too much ‘Christmas’ for the March heat in Mumbai.

Also part of our remarkable Cask Strength hand-filled whiskies evening:

Other Abelour’s sampled previously:

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After the remarkable Glenmorangie, next up in our exceptional evening of hand-filled cask strength whiskies was this Glenfiddich 15 year.

Glenfiddich is one of the classic single malts… a standard most have encountered and consumed at some point. Our host is particularly partial to the 15 year, hence this was his choice when selecting a whisky to hand fill at their distillery in Dufftown.

Glenfiddich 15 year (19 April 2012) Batch No 15, Bottle No 11/15, 55%

Here is what we found:

Nose – Honey, light fruit, black pepper, a little spice, wood, musty, floral, dash of vanilla
Palate – Plum, cherry sour, spice, warm, wood, sawdust, light sherry
Finish – Tart sour cherry that sweetens out
Water – Absolutely add it! Takes the acidity out and smoothes it.

This cask strength whisky is known as the “Distillery Edition” and we anticipated it to be “more” with greater complexity and character than the standard 15 year. It has been a long time since I had a Glenfiddich 15 year, so couldn’t add much to the debate on how they differ… however indeed felt privileged to sample a dram straight from the distillery.

The Glenfiddich tastings notes for this whisky:

Colour – Rich and golden
Nose – A complex aroma with sweet, fruity notes and delicate vanilla oakness. Addition of a little water releases a beautiful combination of heathery spiciness and rich fruit cake.
Taste – Silky smooth and warming when tasted at full strength. With the addition of water it produces intriguing layers of spice, sherry oak, marzipan, dark chocolate and ginger.
Finish – Long lasting with a lingering vanilla sweetness.

Also part of our cask strength hand-filled whisky evening:

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