{"product_id":"aberfeldy-20-year-old-exceptional-cask-2018-70cl","title":"Aberfeldy 20 Year Old Exceptional Cask Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky (2018) 70cl","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 28px;\"\u003eAberfeldy 20 Year Old Exceptional Cask 70cl\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBottle 341 out of 624 made. Bottled in 2018. Signed off by Stephanie J Macleod\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHere is something you do not come across often. Aberfeldy bottled at cask strength instead of the normal line up of 12, 16, 21 at 40%\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAberfeldy is a distillery nestled in the Highlands of Scotland. They are famous for being the spiritual home of Dewar’s and are still owned by the brand today. Lead by Master Distiller Stephanie Macleod, they are well known for their high quality malt.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003eWith the Exceptional Cask Series, Aberfeldy, along with other Dewar’s brands such as Craigellachie and Aultmore, release their small batch and single cask malts. It gives fans a chance to embrace the quality malt produced at these distilleries and to learn more about how cask maturation effects the final whisky. It is in a similar vein to how fellow Master Distiller Rachel Barrie of BenRiach and Glendronach releases their malts in batches.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eTasting Notes \u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe nose begins with notes of honey, caramel and oak wood. Sherry spices appear, with dried fruits and a lovely\u003cbr\u003emoist Christmas cake note. It is rich and warming. Citrus fruits give it a nice liveliness and crystalized orange peels add a wonderful sweetness.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe palate is full of caramel and honey, with a hint of vanilla oak. Coffee and dark chocolate give it a nice edge.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe bitterness is excellent against the sweetness. The mouth feel is smooth and brings out a lot of chewy dried fruit notes. Marzipan and Christmas cake continue.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe finish is bold, with cinnamon and vanilla taking over.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAberfeldy 20 Year Old Exceptional Cask is everything you want in a good malt; warming, full of flavour and well developed.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\"productView-descriptionWrap\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAbout Aberfeldy\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"productView-descriptionWrap\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"banner wrapper\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"banner-container\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"banner-content\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"banner-content-inner\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"introduction\"\u003eOne of the sweetest single malts, Aberfeldy’s characteristic honeyed note is the result of very long fermentation, coupled with slow distillation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"pagenav js-fixed\"\u003eA thick, almost waxy texture (though not as overt as in DCL days) adds some weight to the mid-palate, allowing long-term maturation. The bulk of the new make is aged in ex-Bourbon casks, but the occasional Sherried release shows that this is a malt which has guts.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"pagenav js-fixed\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"pagenav js-fixed\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJohn Dewar \u0026amp; Sons was typical of many of the blending firms which were founded in the 19th century. Dewar himself, though born in humble surroundings in a croft at Shenvail, became a wine merchant in Perth and by the middle of the century had started to blend whisky. It was however his sons, John Jr and Thomas (always known as\u003cspan\u003e Tommy), \u003c\/span\u003ewho made the family firm a globally recognised name.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn the 1890s, they decided to go into whisky production and built a distillery at Aberfeldy, only two miles from where their father had been born. The site had originally been a brewery and some distillation had taken place in the early part of the century. Fed by the Pitilie Burn [where gold is still panned] Aberfeldy became the malt at the heart of the firm’s blends. A private railway line linked the plant with the firm’s operational hub in Perth.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDewar’s joined DCL in 1925 and in 1973 the Aberfeldy site doubled in capacity to its present size. It changed ownership in 1998, when the UK Monopolies Board forced the newly formed Diageo to offload one of its brands and attendant capacity. The\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/scotchwhisky.com\/whiskypedia\/2600\/john-dewar-sons\/\"\u003eDewar’s estate\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e[the blends, plus Aberfeldy, Aultmore, Craigellachie and Royal Brackla] were bought for £1.1bn by Bacardi-Martini.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe new owners invested heavily in a highly impressive educational facility - Dewar’s World of Whisky - which tells the story of the house of Dewar - and blending.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn more recent times, Aberfeldy has been sold in small quantities as single malt and in 2014 was repackaged. A new, permanent, five-strong range is to be created.  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e54.1% ABV\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e70cl\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Aberfeldy","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52784615293266,"sku":"ABF20EC2018","price":299.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1052\/9737\/9666\/files\/4046810614.jpg?v=1771929993","url":"https:\/\/whiskysituation.co.uk\/products\/aberfeldy-20-year-old-exceptional-cask-2018-70cl","provider":"Whisky Situation","version":"1.0","type":"link"}