I had sent some questions to Aberlour via their website and had an answer in a few days. I had asked about A’Bunadh:
See later followup on this expression.
When you see Aberlour’s A’Bunadh, it is quite obvious this is not your run-of-the-mill whisky: the deep tawny-red color is highlighted by a clear glass bottle, short with a high shoulder. The spirit is clear, and when backlighted has tones of polished oak, but when in shadow, the whisky looks like an alchemist’s reagent for making dragon blood. Or maybe it is dragon’s blood—it’s strong enough! Bottled typically around 60% (my bottling, #46, is at 60.4%), A’bunadh has enough kick to get anyone’s attention. This is a spirit to be approached with respect.
Continue reading “Whisky and Words number 9: Aberlour A’bunadh”
Tobermory is one of those was-mothballed, now-resuscitated distilleries which is now producing a high quality product. It’s considered an island distillery, being on the isle of Mull (north of Islay and Jura, south of Skye), but the style isn’t like what we think of as an island malt. It does not have the medicinal quality of a Talisker or Caol Ila, nor the peat of an Ardbeg, nor the smoke of a Laphroaig or Lagavulin. In fact, Tobermory reminds me of a Speyside or lowland malt (as we’ll see, this is no great surprise).
This is a bit unfair to old JWB — he wants to just keep walking, but just as the old boy saunters past the once-garish, now-tatty hawker’s booth nestled in the seawall of Old Brighton, just west of the pier, out come a couple yobs wielding – wait for it – Glencairn glasses. Frightening. You guessed it, we’re not just looking at old JW Black here, but comparing him to another Black and a simian. And even a single-malt. Which we gotta do as there are 1000 reviews of JWB around – we need some spice for this old pottage.
Continue reading “Whisky and Words Number Six: Johnnie Walker Black / the Two-Jacksons”
The Black Bottle is a whisky that I’ve anticipated for some time. It has a legendary status on the internet as a remarkably good whisky for a reasonable price. I had hopes it might topple Johnny Walker Black as the two-Jackson ($40) standard bottling to keep in the liquor cabinet. JWB serves as a standard for balance and reasonable complexity around here.
But as the redoubtable Ralfy commented in Review #450, the bottling has apparently changed. In his review #16, from 2009, he talked of golden syrup, fresh fruit and integrated peat. The color was a light gold – he even referred to them backing off on the caramel coloring.
Continue reading “Whisky and Words Number Five: Black Bottle”
AlbinoTree.Net: Whisky (and book) reviews 
