John Dewar & Sons recently announced the two most recent expressions to come from Aberfeldy’s Red Wine Cask Collection, the Aberfeldy 15 Years Old finished in Cabernet Sauvignon wine casks from Napa Valley and the Aberfeldy 18 Years Old finished in Tuscan red wine casks from Bolgheri.
A statement from the distiller noted that this limited series of whisky was born from Malt Master Stephanie Macleod’s passion for maturation and flavor development.
Inspired by a love of fine wine, Macleod looked to explore how flavors from red wine casks interact with and elevate Aberfeldy’s aged malt. She then nosed each cask to monitor maturation and flavor development within the Aberfeldy inventory, achieving a flavorsome and balanced character.
The first single malt whisky in this Aberfeldy collection launched in 2019, and was finished in Pomerol wine casks. It launched Aberfeldy’s journey into French red wine.
The four bottlings that followed further explored the red wines of the Bordeaux and Rhone wine appellations, evolving to include red wine cask finishes from both an Old World wine and a New World wine.
Macleod said she chose to finish a 15-year-old Aberfeldy with a Californian red from Napa Valley, alongside an 18-year-old finished with a Tuscan red from Bolgheri, the birthplace of the first Super Tuscan wine.
Aberfeldy 15 Years Old Limited Edition is first matured in a combination of refill casks, and then finished in ex-Cabernet Sauvignon wine barriques, sourced from California’s Napa Valley.
Aberfeldy 18 Years Old Limited Edition is first matured in a combination of refill casks, and then finished in ex-Tuscan red wine barriques, sourced from Bolgheri, Italy, a region known for Chianti. It’s made with a Cabernet Sauvignon base.
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“Aberfeldy with a Napa red wine finish delights with fragrant notes of raspberry jam, parma violets, then cinnamon and freshly ground coffee beans, all alongside the signature honeyed profile. It’s a rare, complex dram to savor,” Macleod said.
“The 18-year-old edition is showing exactly the kind of depth and interest I’m aiming for when finishing in Tuscan red wine casks of this quality. On the palate there’s more fruit and almond, and also delightful hints of sliced green pepper and lime which mingles with Aberfeldy’s citrus and honey notes. Beautiful soft oak rounds out this complex and deeply satisfying dram. It’d be ideal with dessert.”
Aberfeldy 15 Years Old is bottled at 43% ABV and has a suggested retail price of £55/€59/$79.99 USD. The Aberfeldy 18 Years Old is bottled at 43% ABV and has a suggested retail price of £95/€99/$120 USD.
They are available at www.shop.dewars.com or in select markets in the UK, France, Germany, the U.S., India, Taiwan, and China.
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