Nose - honey, raisin, plum, orange zest, white wine, strawberry, almond, grape, cinnamon, apple skin, chocolate, fig, tea, light vanilla, oak notes, mild ethanol burn.
Taste - sour apple, plum, grape, nutmeg, cinnamon, chocolate, cherry, caramel, vanilla, walnut, moderate oak, orange zest, mild to moderate alcohol bite, finishing fast and bright with a bit of sour apple, cinnamon, and oak bitterness lingering.
The nose got my hopes up, but they were quickly dashed upon tasting this. The bouquet presents like a very solid, albeit young, sherried scotch. Nothing fantastic, but fairly respectable. However, I immediately got the same sour apple flavor I register with other young and/or over-diluted scotches. As an aside, I don’t see other reviewers reference this note very often, so I may be mischaracterizing this unpleasant youthful, watery essence that I perceive as sour apple.
I wonder if this would be significantly improved if Aberlour shipped it at a higher proof. I enjoy the A’bunadh much more, which is even younger but proofed much higher, so I assume this would probably be the case. Overall, this is not great. There are much better options available for the price (which is currently $50+ around me). Shout-out to
@ContemplativeFox for providing the sample for me to review.