Aberfeldy Offers Chance To Bottle Your Own 40 Year Old Scotch

An aspect of distillery visits that many tourists like to partake in is the chance to bottle your own whisky directly from a cask or tap. This results in a nice on-site experience for the visitor and also a chance to have a souvenir you can share with others as you reminiscent about your visit. Most distilleries typically offer relatively inexpensive bottlings for this undertaking, but Scotland’s Aberfeldy recently went higher end with a 40 year old Scotch.

The new Aberfeldy 40 Year Old, according to those behind it, is available only from the distillery as a hand bottled exclusive. To create this release the distillery’s Malt Master, Stephanie Macleod, “delved in to the distillery’s reserves and uncovered three separate single casks, all with remarkable qualities,” that had been resting since being distilled back in the late 1970s. All three are American oak, ex-bourbon hogsheads.

“”o find one cask at this venerable age, is extraordinary but to find three, is exceptional,” said Macleod in a prepared statement. “Just think of the four decades of history these casks have slumbered through.”

The 40 year old is being targeted as “an ultra-premium, hands-on experience” whereby “purchasers will be given the opportunity to fill their own bottle, by hand, directly from the cask, in the distillery’s historic warehouses.” It is not a cheap undertaking, as each bottle will cost £2,500, or around $3,250 USD. You’ll find more information on each cask, including official tasting notes, below from the distillery.

1st release:

• Cask #5029 50.1% ABV, 160 bottles
• “Honeysuckle and freshly cut grass, ushers in the signature notes of heather honey.  On the palate, a burst of cloves, then relaxing with cereal notes.”

2nd release:

• Cask #5030 47.3% ABV, 134 bottles
• “Lemon curd on buttered toast, delicately balanced with notes of thyme and rosemary and a creamy caramel finish. Full bodied and endlessly smooth on the palate.” 

3rd release:

• Cask #5031 46.1% ABV, 97 bottles
• “Charming citrus scented crème brûlée, fresh peaches and soft oak. On a palate a smooth and complex finish awaits.”