Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Aberlour 15 yo Sherry Wood Finish, my long, lost love


Aberlour Sherry Wood Finish
Aged 15 years
Single Speyside malt Scotch whisky
43% alc/vol
$60

This, dear friends, is the Scotch that started it all.

I received a bottle of it from a friend for Christmas in 2006. When I tried it, I was struck for the first time by how different one Scotch could be from another. This Aberlour was noticeably sweeter than the Glenlivet 12 I was used to, and a fair sight darker in color as well. From that moment forward, I became a true Scotch fan.

This is one of my favorite drams, so much so that I couldn't bear to finish the bottle. I've made it last until today, because I love it so, and because I can't find the blasted thing in any liquor store I visit anymore. I used to see it every now and then at Sam's Wine, but no longer. They don't even have a spot for it on the shelf now.

But I found a store online that still had a couple bottles in stock, so I ordered one, ridiculous shipping charges and all. Can't complain though -- it's so worth it. And now, I get to finally polish off this bottle of liquid joy.

Notes:

Beautiful tawny color. Sweet and fruity -- melon and bubblegum, with a trace of mint. Delicious and comforting. Soft, delicate, proud, and mellow.

Seriously, I'm in love. I want to marry this whisky. I want her to take my name and bear my children -- sweet, sherry-finished children. I know how our President feels about homosexuals, but what about whiskysexuals?

5 comments:

Will said...

Update! Chicanery! The San Francisco Wine Trading Co. called after I posted to inform me that what they had in stock was, in fact, the Aberlour 16 yo Double Cask, and not the 15 yo Sherry Wood Finish that I had ordered. Now, the 16 yo is a fine dram -- I have a bottle of it in my kitchen right now, as a matter of fact -- but it's not the same.

Anyway, don't let the tone of this comment fool you -- the guy from SFWTC who called me was super nice and helped me cancel the order. No hard feelings from me. And I found another place that seems to have the 15 yo, so we'll see how that works out.

Will said...

Sigh. I give up. Nicholas Roberts Ltd. is out of it too. Maybe I'm stuck with searching for it in local small liquor stores... :(

Anonymous said...

I was looking for aberlour 16 year old double cask and found aberlour 15 year old sherry instead. Did I find gold in my silver mine?

Carlos Burbank IL

Will said...

Heh. You may well have! In my opinion, of course. Want to trade? ;)

The 16yo can be found readily here in Chicago. I was at Binny's just a few days ago and they have plenty of it in stock.

Anonymous said...

I just picked up a bottle of the 15yo Sherry Finish in a duty free shop at LAX, for $48. The bill lists www.dfsgalleria.com and 1-800-225-2777.