I had the privilege to try this 18yo Aberlour again thanks to my Long Island connection, @Scott_E. I initially had a bottle of this way back in 2016 and found it fantastic. It’s a sherry bomb that has all the rounded edges you’d expect from a quality, well-aged 18 year old. This is bottled at 43% and that’s about the perfect sweet spot IMO. It’s amber and gold in the taster and makes lots of legs and droplets after giving it a swirl. The nose is completely caramel/toffee and sherry sweetness. There’s an underlying syrupy malty-ness that makes it dessert-like and savory from the start. The palate is warm sherry, apples and pears, light vanilla and some robust oak tannins. The finish is long and has a great lingering warmth. It’s ultra smooth and leaves melted toffee notes hanging around well after the finish. Excellent. This is a solid 4, maybe 4.25 stars. I enjoyed this one much more than the later batches of the A’bunadh and the much simpler, 12 year. That 16 year offering is a money grab that should be totally avoided. I recently bought 2 bottles of the new Casg Annamh- which means “rare cask” and will be reviewing those in the coming weeks. Thanks again, Scott. This was a treat. Cheers.