You never forget your first time. For me, she was sweet, sexy, friendly, with a beautiful exotic golden tone, and a ripe full body. She was also a little bit young, but oh so alluring and welcoming – my life changed when we met. I’m pretty sure many others found her just as evocative and elusive, and it’s pretty sad that she’s no longer in my life. I’ve asked around, but she’s difficult to track down, and no, I can’t stalk her on FB. Sometimes you grow up and you gotta let the past go, and just revel in memories and the mayhem you got up to. Ah, my Aberlour 15, how I missed you.

The Aberlour 15 Year Old Select Cask Whisky was the one that really popped my single malt cherry. Before that it was a banal array of basic blends and far-too-smoky drams that kept me on the periphery of peat.

But there we were, in a villa in Phuket overlooking the bay, ready to rip into a New Year’s Eve weekend, and out came a bottle of the 15 Year Old a friend had bought at duty free (my belated eternal gratitude, btw). Nose was fruity, sweet, with honey, and it tasted of raisins, almonds, orange peel – like sunshine on a jackpot day. It certainly felt like my stars had aligned.

Perhaps it was the result of its double cask maturation – I was to quickly learn that this method was unique – which gave this whisky its witching power. Aberlour’s new-make spirit (unaged whisky) is matured concurrently in both Sherry butts and American oak barrels for a minimum of 10 years in each. You’re getting a full-bodied blend of sweet and spicy. (Note to self: buy more after the return flight). Over the years, the distillery has ceased production of the 15 Year Old, and focused on the 16 instead. Is it similar? Is it close in spirit? It’s same same but different, like breaking up and dating the other twin sister.

So thanks to a media buddy I was recently invited to a special tasting. On a dark wintry Thursday evening we gathered in the Pernod Ricard office to be schooled on Aberlour by Raja Menon, a Keeper of the Quaich. (Wintry is my romantic notion, it was a drizzly afternoon in Singapore). The small group of whisky enthusiasts went through the 12, 16, 18 and the cask strength A’bunadh. I learned a few new things:

• Boatmen, at the start of fishing season, would pour a bottle of Aberlour 12 into the river for luck. Maybe legend has it that it’s not just humans who love its double cask flavours.

• The history of Aberlour began all the way back in 300 BC, when the ancient Celts followed the sounds of a wild mountain burn, or stream, called the Lour. They settled where the Lour met the river Spey, and their druids named it Aberlour, or ‘the mouth of the chattering burn’.

• There’s a whisky-themed pub in Speyside called The Mash Tun, with rooms named after the distilleries in the region. So yes, there’s a family style room called Aberlour, so try the 18 year old there, and know that it is made only half a mile away.

We drank quite a lot of whiskies that night. Here, a brief look at the range and some nosing/tasting hints, which are merely road signs, your nose and palate will discover its own destination:

Aberlour 12 Year Old Double Cask Matured (below right)

Nose: Soft and rounded with fruity notes of red apples

Palate: Sherried character, fruity aromas balanced with chocolates, toffee and ginger spiciness

Aberlour 16 Year Old Double Cask Matured (below left)

The one that’s closest to the 15 I remember fondly.

Nose: Rich, dry scented floral and sweet raisin aromas with spicy nuttiness

Palate: Smooth, full sweet floral and spicy flavours with a soft plum fruitiness

Aberlour 18 Year Old Double Cask Matured (top left)

By general concensus (whisky people in a room drinking and nodding) this is their favourite one

Nose: Rich and complex, note of toffee and butterscotch combine with ripe peach and bitter orange

Palate: Soft apricot and cream are offset by developing flavours of old leather and oak with a touch of honey

Aberlour A’bunadh (top right)

Each cask strength batch is carefully made by hand, and in homage to founder James Fleming, using only traditional methods without chill filtration. Each batch is labeled accordingly (up to #55 now), so yes, it does taste different from season to season. Not wildly different as to be another whisky, it will still have its creamy, intense raisin character, but each collection will just be oh so slightly different.

You learn something from every meaningful encounter; with Aberlour, it was the start of a beautiful friendship. The 15 Year Old was originally created for the French market, so I guess I’ll always have Paris, and here’s looking at you, kid. 

Like this? This whisky just set a world auction record

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