Aberfeldy launches trio of 40-year-old whiskies

by Owen Bellwood

Bacardi-owned Scotch brand Aberfeldy has launched a new bottling experience at its distillery, offering guests a choice of three 40-year-old single cask whiskies.

The Highland distillery will bottle three American oak ex-Bourbon hogsheads, each filled on 22 August 1978. Cask #5029 will be bottled at 50.1% ABV and is described as having “honeysuckle and freshly cut grass” notes, with a “burst of cloves” and cereal notes on the palate. Cask #5030 (47.3% ABV) has flavours of “lemon curd on buttered toast” and is “full bodied and endlessly smooth on the palate”. Finally, Cask #5031, bottled at 46.1% ABV, has aromas of “citrus scented crème brûlée” and a complex finish. Stephanie Macleod, Aberfeldy’s malt master, said: “To find one cask at this venerable age, is extraordinary but to find three, is exceptional. “Just think of the four decades of history these casks have slumbered through.” Priced at £2,500 (US$3,240), purchasers will be given the opportunity to fill their own bottle by hand, directly from the cask, in one of the distillery’s Scottish warehouses. Macleod added: “The single cask is something that we at Aberfeldy bottle rarely – to have the honour of filling your very own bottle of our oldest and most exclusive whisky yet, is a truly special opportunity. "The golden hallmarks of the distillery are evident; beautifully balanced, elegant and well-mannered with peerless texture, perfectly expressed by these 40-year-old bottlings.” Earlier this month, Bacardi Global Travel Retail partnered with Dubai Duty Free to launch a limited edition Aberfeldy 19-year-old single malt Scotch whisky as part of its Exceptional Cask Series.