This tasting of Aberlour A’Bunadh follows my review of Aberlour 12 Year Double Cask Matured. It comes from a bottle of Batch 61 (most stores currently have Batch 64 on the shelves) which rings in at a hefty cask strength of 60.8% ABV. This is a NAS whisky, aged in Spanish Oloroso Sherry casks and reportedly drawn from barrels ranging in age from 5 to 25 years. It’s NCF and NCA (thumbs up) and while A’Bunadh used to be matured exclusively in first-fill casks, there’s no mention of it here. Regardless, come to this expecting the qualities of a “Sherry Bomb”. I purchased this several months ago on recommendation, but I have to admit, I did not fall in love with it like so many others have, even when experimenting with water. I legitimately thought something was wrong with my bottle. Let’s see how it did with time and oxygen. Nose: It’s a bit closeted at full strength, with aromas of stewed plums, glacé cherries, and spicy date-maple-oak staves. Less ethanol than you’d expect but it’s lurking beneath the surface. If you could detect astringency with your nose, I swear this smells astringent. Hydrate this dram to mellow the wood notes down to a satisfying toasty oak, with stewed dark fruits, faint orange zest, cinnamon, and dark chocolate. Palate: Typically I give cask strength drams at try at full bore for reference for where I started. This comes across as sweet, raisiny-plum, astringent black tea with oak and oak and more oak. With water, it’s more tolerable to my palate than I last remember but it’s still has powerful, oaky, Sherry influence. For those who love Sherry bombs, this is nearing oak-infused Sherry territory. I think the sweet spot to aim is somewhere around 45-48% ABV. The sweet plum-prunes, raisins, dark cherries, and dates are still there, along with vanilla and cinnamon, oak and spiced orange. Rough tannins smooth out and the mouthfeel improves dramatically. Finish: As can be imagined, at nearly 122 proof, it is long and warm and keeps crawling back up your throat. Watered down, it’s drying and astringent, with surprising amounts of oak still. As it fades off, it gets a bit creamier. I think my biggest beef with this dram is that I have to work with it so much (and I’m not referring to having to add water). My problem is that this bottle requires me to search for things I like about it, rather than these attributes coming naturally, which is annoying (I also felt this way about The Balvenie 14 Year Old Caribbean Cask). And because it’s a pricey bottle, I think there’s a tendency to want to find those exceptional notes to justify the purchase price. I don’t feel like being generous for the sake of justifying. All in all though, I do think this has more to offer than the standard Aberlour 12yo, I just think it’s poor VFM (dare I say overhyped?) and I don’t think I’d ever buy a bottle again (especially given that the murmurings say the quality has been in decline the past few batches). I’m giving this a 3.25 because it is better than the Aberlour 12 Double Cask, and because it is a bit above average, but it is a very pricey, above average bottle. Not recommended. 3.25 ~ 80 ~ Above Average