← The Malt Register KR
Aberlour, Speyside

Aberlour

Pictish · aber
aber
estuary, place where waters merge
Burn name
lour
lauer creek

The Lour Burn flows into the River Spey. estuary. It is often moved to the mouth of a babbling stream.

The first element, aber, is neither Gaelic nor Norse. It survives from the Pictish language spoken here before Gaelic became dominant.

Aberlour

Aberlour, Speyside aber + lour — mouth of a stream
One thing to remember

The name of this distillery is water. It is said that the 6th century saint Drostan baptized local chieftains with this very water. Even now, water and an oak tree are depicted together on the bottle label.

Why it tastes like this
01 · WASH

Exceptionally wide base

The body is low and wide, so heat does not spirit in one place. The boil is maintained evenly without becoming intense, and that uniformity is what this distillery is trying to achieve.

02 · Thursday

It gets narrow without stairs.

Distilleries usually have a gateway somewhere. Flat head, ball at the base of the neck, septic duct, or five meters high. There is no such device here. The neck is only gently narrowed from base to top.

03 · Time

speed instead of device

Instead, it slows down the distillation rate. The second distillation takes about seven and a half hours, allowing the steam to remain in contact with the copper for a long time. This method reduces harsh scents with a longer contact time than a special device.

04 · Cut

Receive hearts for two hours

The section of the second distillate used for actual maturation is called the heart or middle cut. Aberlour receives this section slowly over about two hours while the alcohol content gradually decreases.

05 · SPIRIT

thick and fruity

The resulting liquid has less grain odor and a distinct black fruit aroma. The texture is heavy enough that the flavor of the spirit remains even when combined with a rich sherry cask.

06 · Two trees

How to merge

The spirits are aged separately in bourbon casks and Oloroso sherry butts and then combined at the end. It is different from the method of maturing by transferring it from one cask to another like Balvenie. The difference is whether the two types of casks are used simultaneously or one after the other.

Flavour

Based on Aberlour 16 Double Cask.

Sherry 85Citrus 50Oak 55Malt 58Floral · vanilla 60Peat 5

It is a shape that swells greatly at the top but is also wide at the bottom. Sherry is the tallest, but the other axes also grow more than halfway, and are not pointed in any direction.

Slower distillation than with special devices increases the time of contact with copper. Because various scents remain evenly, the radar is not sharply biased to one side.

Placed beside Dalmore, the Sherry axis is similar, but the other axes are different in size. Even if the same sherry cask is used, the flavor and texture of the spirit before maturation are different.

Particulars
Region
Speyside
Founded
1826 · Labeling 1879
Water source
A spring at the foot of Ben Rinnes
Stills
Wash 2 · Spirit 2
Spirit run
Approximately 7 hours and 30 minutes
Middle cut
73% → 63%
Principal casks
Ex-bourbon + Oloroso
In detail

Aberlour is located at the foot of Ben Rinnes Mountain, where the Lour Burn meets the River Spey. The geographical feature of the point where two waters meet soon became the name. Not far from Dufftown, where Balvenie is located, is the area with the highest concentration of distilleries in Scotland.

The year 1879 is written on the label. This is the year that James Fleming re-established the distillery after a fire, and the first establishment was in 1826. The brand has chosen which year it will start with. Fleming's phrase, "Show it by your actions," is still written on the bottle.

There are also records that the two spirit stills had different capacities. If the size of the distiller is different, the weight and aroma of the spirit will also vary. Abellauer mixes these spirits to create a certain style.

Appendix

Aber is the word of the people who lived in this land before the arrival of the Gaels. On maps of Scotland, place names starting with aber are usually places where water merges.

aberP
Explore another whisky Whisky taste test → View the register →