Whisky Wine For a Good Friend!

 

Whisky: Aberlour 10 yr old

Distiller:

Aberlour
 

Bottle:

Aberlour 10 Year old

Region:

Speyside

 

ABV:

40%

 

Colour:

Pale Straw

Review: 

Aberlour is a special bottle for me.  Now when I say special I don't mean special as in my wife or brother bought it for me.  It's not special in that it's expensive, or rare, or even really an awesome bottle.

It's special to me because it's the first whisky I ever bought for a friend as a gift.

That's right, it's special because I bought it for a gift.

Even more so, it's special because I bought it for a gift for one of my first Aussie friends.  That's right folks!  My friend Louis from my last review got this bottle for a birthday present.

Even cooler this is the first bottle I purchased using the whisky review site Connosr.  (Here's the linkie! http://www.connosr.com/).

I'd joined the review site shortly before purchasing this bottle and when I found out that it was my good friend Louie's birthday I knew I had to get him something good.  But what!?

I mean even though I'm a whisky lover at this stage I was still a whisky newbie.  So I decided to research the crap out of whisky and what was available from the local Dan Murphy's.

I sat here at my computer for hours looking through Dan Murphy's stock and comparing it to reviews on Connosr.  I knew I wanted to get him a GOOD whisky, but I also knew I couldn't afford a very expensive whisky.

So I sat here and researched and researched. 

And researched.

I debated Talisker 10 year old.  Possibly an acquired taste due to the sea salt and pepper, discarded.

Possibly Ardbeg 10 year old.  No definitely too peaty and smokey.  Discarded.

Maybe Glenlivet or Glenfiddich 12 year old.  Mmmm I recall him saying he wasn't a huge fan of those.  Discarded.

I knew that my friend Louie wasn't a massive whisky drinker, that he loved wine.

Then I came across Aberlour 10 year old.

This looked perfect.  Lots of sherry.  Plenty sweet.  Not so expensive that if he didn't like it that a large amount of money would be foolishly spent on a chancy birthday present.

Even better I had enough spare change to purchase a bottle for myself!

And I do mean spare change.  A bag full of one and two dollars (Aussie dollars and two dollars are coins for the record.)  I keep this bag full of spare change and use it to see how much money I would waste if I didn't set it aside every year.  Last year it wound up being almost $900 dollars.  It happily paid for a trip to Melbourne :D

So I headed over to Dan Murphy's and purchased over $100 worth of whisky using nothing but 1's and 2's.

Awesome.  Just awesome!

Now when I get home I set aside my friend Louie's bottle for our dinner together in a week's time.  But it is also important that I taste this whisky and make sure that it is indeed something he will like.  That's what this evening will be for!

Right before dinner starts I crack open the bottle and pour myself a dram.

As I sit down with my wife I give my glass a nose to see what I can smell.

Strong smells of wine come off the whisky.  Sweet, slightly tannin notes float up along with some lovely floral aromas.  A very nice nose that would make smoke and peat lovers upset and sherry lovers happy.

As you take a sip the wine like impression continues with flavors of grapes, pears and apples.  You can taste the oak, but it never dominates the flavor profile.

A lovely and long finish with the sherry lasting to the very last.

Quite yummy.

And like I said this is a cheaper bottle running around $55 AUS, which makes it perfect for introducing people new to whisky to trying whisky straight. 

As of the time of this review Louie hasn't opened his bottle of Aberlour, instead saving it for a special occasion.  Possibly a time when we can sit down and enjoy it together.

Nose:       20/25
Taste:      21/25
Finish:      20/25
Balance:   21/25

Overall:    82/100