One of Aberlour's Best? | Aberlour 18 Double Sherry Cask Finish

I've got a single malt scotch whisky from the Aberlour distillery today. This is their 18 year old Double Sherry Cask Finished. It's a pretty recent release, and it's been compared to some heavy hitters. I'll taste it and give you my thoughts. Cheers!
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Scores:
0-75 - Crap
75-79 - For cocktails & people you don't like
80-82 - Not bad
83-85 - Getting good here
86-89 - Delicious
90-94 - Awesome
95-100 - Cowabunga Dudes

[@xxacidmv]

It is cheaper than Macallan 18 in my market, but it is still $245. As you said, there are a bunch of really great 18s that I can get at a lower price. In fact, Octomore (the .1s) go for slightly under that over here.

[@hansvaneenennaam457]

Hi Geoff, the Aberlour 18 is appr. 120 euro in an on line retailer in The Netherlands. So that's even cheaper then in Taiwan. In the start of your review, I was really starting to rethink my Aberlour attitude. But at the end I decided not to. Good review, anyway.

[@davidowen2834]

Hi Geoff. I stopped buying the Aberlour 18 when they put it in a 500 ml bottle and kept the price the same ( or there abouts). In my market it’s around €120. So, too expensive , especially when one can still buy the AnConc 18 for around €90. Slàinte Geoff.

[@Gwhisky]

Hey David. Totally understandable. I like this new one and I'm glad that it's back to 700ml bottles, but sadly it's not a great value prospect. Cheers! 🥃

[@adrianwiuk]

I like Aberlour, and have a A' Bundah open at the minute, but this fixation with batching even their basic expressions is a little tiring and just seems to be an excuse to hike up pricing and create a resale market that shouldn't exist. It might not be Macallan pricing, but it's still too expensive for a poorly presented core range offering. 88 seems very generous, but I've not tried it so have no point of reference.

[@suhitabhat1735]

Aberlour 18 is definitely one of the best tasted recently. Macallan is out of my Budget ❤

[@fotografi4fun]

I’ve looked at this, but because of the price and ABV, I have ignored it. A`Bunadh is one of my favorite whiskies, so why would I pay 30-40$ more for a 43% that I probably wouldn’t like as much. And if I trust you that Longmorn 18 is better than Aberlour 18, and I prefer A´Bunadh over Longmorn, we have a winner 🥇😂 Thank you 😊

[@user-qr9si3ob3f]

For me, Ancnoc 18 is much desirable; statswise, flavorwise, pricewise, and valuewise!

[@Gwhisky]

Can't argue with that!

[@PW-72648]

Thanks for recommendation

[@klingfu]

Very good review, I tried batch 1. I think the nose promised more than the palate though.

[@thenavajoknow]

Pretty much agree with you, but I'm simply not buying a chillfiltered, colored, 43%, ultimately ho-hum 18 year-old for €130. As a brand Aberlour obviously aims at the broad consumer market, not whisky nerds. I can get an Arran 18 for the money, or, if I do want a pretty decent castrate, a Knockando 18 for €40.

[@rupertansell4662]

I thought the Aberlour 12yo double cask (40% ABV) is a weak expression. The Casg Annamh (48%) is much better and I may forgive the addition of E150. But the 14yo (40%) is another weak one and, I agree, the 18yo (43%) being chill filtered and coloured, for £145 GBP is extortionate. I will NOT spend my money on this. There are some far superior alternatives at this price point. I wholeheartedly agree!

[@torbjornkarlsen]

Hear, hear! The whisky market will be what we make it. And I for one don't want to make it full of chill filtration and caramel colouring.

[@PatrickDube-mq8qp]

The aberlour 18 double sherry is not coloured by the way but it is chill filtered

[@ps3inquisition441]

Good review, I agree with the majority of what you said. I luckily picked this up before the massive price hike, it’s now $240 in my market. I’ll be nursing my bottle, because I’ll never have another one.

[@michael72012]

Macallan was good 10 years ago but the new bottles I bought lately are disappointing and overpriced, Glenallachie and Aberlour are my favorite brands now

[@Lovemelikeareptile]

I'm stopping at casg annamh and a'bunadh, the others I have tried from Aberlour have been a miss, and considering the price tag I'm not willing to chance this one. That said, I appreciate your reviews and might try to convince a friend to get a bottle so I can rewatch this with my own sample and not drop big bucks. As an aside, Craigellachie 13 was well received by reviewers such as yourself, and I believe "Cambletown funk" was a descriptor that was used. Would you be open to discussing this particular flavour note in more depth and perhaps give examples of comparable whiskeys? Might be an interesting topic to explore. Cheers Geoff, keep up the good work!

[@DeesoSaeed]

Sometimes I really don't understand the product policy of some distilleries that obviously know how to do great whisky but refuse to give consistent treatment across their line up. Arbelour has NCF and higher ABV whiskies in their core range but for whatever reason this one doesn't seem developed to its full potential. This summer I'm going to Scotland and I'd love to get one of their distillery exclusive since I've heard really nice things about them.

[@Gwhisky]

I'd be quite curious myself about their distillery exclusives. I'm sure they're excellent. And yes, some baffling choices were made for their standard line. 🥃

[@barfridge0]

At least it's not a 500ml bottle like the Aberlour 18 I accidentally purchased without realising.

[@lightplays2181]

Hi Geoff )). Aberlour 18 very good whisky , but little expensive , i think really price 90 euro ... Maccalan 18 veeeeeerrrrryyyy expensive )))))) Gaumarjos !

[@jbar6284]

Hi Geoff, at 2:15 you give this whisky a green tick beside the 46+% wording, while also saying it's only 43% abv. /headscratch/ USD150-65 here.

[@Gwhisky]

Yeah that was just a mistake in the edit. Thanks for letting me know! 🥃

[@jckbquck]

You have a green check in the ABV box....

[@Gwhisky]

Editing blunder! 😬

[@SaltyCuban]

I bought the older regular 18 yr old in Florida back when it was about $100. Still sealed. Only have opened and tried the Aberlour Abunadh expressions. Batches 45-46-56.

[@WhiskyWolf514]

Hmmm Nice one! I didn't see this coming buddy! I may give this a shot soon enough 😉 Thanks for the great video! Cheers my friend 🥃🥃

[@Gwhisky]

As long as it's well priced it's worth checking out. Cheers and once again... Happy Father's Day! 🥃

[@WhiskyWolf514]

@@Gwhisky Thanks Brother 🙏🙏

[@SimonneNZ]

Good review Geoff! This one is way outside my budget but even if this was within my budget the 43% ABV would put me off. Speyburn 18 is 46% and is about $100 NZD cheaper. Cheers!

[@Gwhisky]

Thanks Simonne. Yeah this one really can't compete with these specs and that price tag. Beautiful whisky, but it's too weak on value. Cheers! 🥃

[@alidownes7768]

Totally agree. I found this underwhelming. I feel like an 18 should pack more of a punch. The Bunna 18 blows this out of the water in my opinion. The Tomatin 18 too!

[@_fwd_racecar_]

i always purposely misspell macallen out of spite showing i dont take the marketing hype seriously. my current favorite budget bottle is "naked malt" that is blended with macallen though, so thats ironic

[@_fwd_racecar_]

also a lot of the standard speyside malts and grain blends kinda taste similar, then i tried macallen12, and thought oh this is the flavor profile the others were trying to copy.... but at the end of the day, macallen12 being the nice version of a grain blend still doesnt impress much

[@Johnny__Silver]

It sounded interesting and I stuck around.

[@joeappleton6849]

Aberlour good on taste

[@Koby616]

Did you say it's 46 abv at the start of the video? Nice review. I tried only aberlour 12. It's nice brand. I think 130 it's too pricey for me. Of course way better price than maccalan 18

[@Gwhisky]

I said it was 43% in the video but I mistakenly added a check mark in the edit next to 46% or higher. Apologies for the blunder! 🥃

[@Koby616]

@@Gwhisky it's ok. Happens only once in 💯 videos

[@torbjornkarlsen]

I'm confidently giving both a miss. Not because I think they're not good drams, but because I don't want to condone these specs. If we buy these castrated bottlings, we should also expect to see more of them. If we buy integrity bottlings, we can expect to see more of them. With so many good options available, I don't have any difficulties skipping the 43%ers, except for the odd mixing whisky. And a Mortlach 16. I'm not perfect. But Macallan? Never!

[@Gwhisky]

Totally fair! 🥃

[@christinecamley]

Terrific thoughts and review Geoff! Much appreciated! Cheers! 🙂

[@Gwhisky]

Thanks Christine. Cheers right back at ya! 🥃

[@christinecamley]

@@Gwhisky Thanks so much Geoff!! 🙂

[@davidmason4812]

To me the Macallan is a bang average whisky and has been for quite a while now, it's so expensive £350, way overpriced, as against the Aberlour at £140, there are so many whiskies that are much better than the Macallan, the Ancnoc 18 is a superb whisky and ticks all the boxes and is a fraction of the price, even the Ancnoc 24yr at £180 is on another level in comparison, not forgetting Glendronach 18, Speyburn 18 and Arran 18, which to me are all superior to the Macallan. Great video as always Geoff, keep up the good work, your videos always bring a smile to my face 😊🥃🥃

[@Gwhisky]

Totally agree, Macallan is 100% NOT worth it, and hasn't been for a long time. I'd buy any of the alternative you put forward there over it. Cheers David and thanks for watching! 🥃

[@thewhiskyenthusiast]

Nice review Geoff! I've tried this head to head with the relatively older version which was released in 50cl bottles and even though this one was better on the nose, the older version was more robust on the palate. I wouldn't know if this can topple Macallan 18 but even though I haven't tried it yet, people say Tamdhu 18 is the real Macallan 18 killer. Have you tried it yet?

[@Gwhisky]

Funny I did the same side-by-side and the two came out about even for me. As for the Tamdhu, yeah that's the real Macallan 18 killer. However it's well over US $200 here, so I'm not convinced yet. The sample I had was excellent, though. 🥃

[@furuyashinichi3211]

アベラワー18、ベンリアック22トリプルディスティルド、ジュラ21シェリー この３つはマッカラン１８の代わりになりえると思います。

[@vimalrajkappil]

I think the A'bunadh , Cash Annamh are miles better than the 18 years old, It's still bottled at a 43%ABV . Seriously, when bottles of whisky aged for 18 years are bottled at 43% and cost more than $200 they have a certain sort of customer in mind and i am not in it. It's the Dalmore club or the Glenlivet, Glenfiddich club

[@whatsthepoint170]

I made a huge mistake of trying this one after Glendronach cask strength. It tasted like water…for obvious reasons. That’s my fault, I need to give it a fair shot next time. This comment seems useless now that I finished it, but I’m posting it anyway

[@88johnbarnes]

How would you rate this Aberlour 18 against Tamdhu 18? 😊

[@Gwhisky]

I prefer the Tamdhu, but that's almost double the price of this in my market. 🥃

[@levonhovhannisyan2181]

Can we expect Glenlivet 18 or Glenfiddich 18 review? 😶‍🌫

[@Gwhisky]

None are planned currently, but I'm sure to get to them eventually! 🥃

[@iancrombie8862]

Used to like this 8 years ago,but no more since the price went up a lot,like the Abunadh...the Casg Anamh is Much better,and 48% abv...

[@ramanb]

Aberlour always do manage to fit delicious juice in all their bottles, even though they do persist with chill filtering, coloring, etc. I have about a dozen in my collection and will continue to buy them. This one however will not be added as it’s $400AUD in my market which is about $267USD. I don’t see value!

[@DileepB]

chill filtered at 46% ABV!

[@rupertansell4662]

It’s actually 43%

[@Gwhisky]

I said 43% in the video but accidentally edited in a check. My bad. 🥃

[@SebMoellerM]

I have a theory: take a bottle of Abelour 18, and a bottle of Glenlivet 18, mix them together and get Macallan 18 … and get arrested by the Whisky Police for sacrilege

[@Gwhisky]

You're a genius and you belong in jail. 🥃

[@haroldgrey134]

Man this bottle is $ FOUR HUNDRED Australian dollars where I am (Australia) I'd kill for the price you pay in Taiwan 😂`

[@Gwhisky]

Australia man. Insane some of the prices I hear about from down there. 🥃

[@deeshmond]

Hard pass. In my market I can get bottles like Ancnoc 18 (and 24), Arran 18, Tamdhu 18, etc for less than this. They’re all better quality than this and no BS specs (noticed the ✅ next to 43% at 2:15 btw)

[@Gwhisky]

Yeah agree, the value and the specs are a turn-off here. And yeah... apologies that was a blunder in the edit. Cheers! 🥃

[@peathead4450]

O dear .... double sherry cask finish... that's double something not for me ... and with your tasting notes that contain both chocolate and dark chocolate, this definately is a LFO whisky (LFO = leave for others) Thanks anyway, Geoff, as you had to spent time to make this video. Slàinte mhath

[@Gwhisky]

A man of consistency you are. Cheers, my friend. 🥃

[@craigweatherby2830]

I'm not buying this. Not at $130 bucks! Hey, some of us viewers are "normal" citizens with normal sized pocketbooks (can you say $50.) Certainly not McCallan. These prices (and hype) have driven me to a more diverse flavor profile provided in bourbons. Sorry to abandon my Scotch friends. I'll always choose Bunnahaban (when available, regardless of its age statement) when I can find it. Isn't it peculiar that Bunnahaban is so burbon like? You think there might be s connection?

[@citylights8521]

I get the impression that you do like this whisky more than you’d like to admit but to avoid the hellfire of the ralfyminions from nonchillfiltered46naturalcolourland you hold the feelings back a bit.

[@Gwhisky]

Actually it's the opposite. I find it somewhat flawed and I surprised myself when I scored it 88 in my notes prior to shooting. That score is solely based on the fact that it's got such beautiful flavours, but it's still not "my style." Cheers! 🥃

[@YoungShag]

I’m sorry. It’s pronounced “Aber-loor” not “Aber-lour”. “Door, not flower”

[@Gwhisky]

No, my pronunciation is correct. 🥃

[@ninetyZeven]

~ pRetTy suRe tHE abUnadH is tHe onLy 1 thEy dOn'T cOlOr , @gwhiz ~

[@Gwhisky]

Sick burn. 💯

[@ramanb]

Aberlour always do manage to fit delicious juice in all their bottles, even though they do persist with chill filtering, coloring, etc. I have about a dozen in my collection and will continue to buy them. This one however will not be added as it’s $400AUD in my market which is about $267USD. I don’t see value!