Here is what the Meta-Critic database has to say for this whisky, relative to others of similar style.<\/p>\n
Aberlour 12yo Double Cask Matured: 8.38 \u00b1 0.15 on 13 reviews ($$$)<\/strong> Although towards the lower end of the range of average Meta-Critic scores, it is also the cheapest of all the above whiskies – and so does seem to represent good value for money.<\/p>\n I was given a bottle of this malt for Father’s Day recently, so I thought I would share my tasting experiences here.<\/p>\n Nose<\/strong>: Sweet pear apple (red delicious) and lighter sherry fruits, like plums and maybe a touch of raisins. Has a mouthwatering “juicy fruit” aroma. Light body otherwise, and not as malty as I expected (more cake-like, if anything). Very slight nose hair burning sensation if you inhale too deeply.<\/p>\n Palate<\/strong>: Same fruits as the nose, but they seem a bit diluted here. A faint touch of spice coming in now (mainly cloves). Still getting the cake and fruit sensation throughout. Light body overall, with a somewhat watery mouthfeel. Would probably have benefited by a higher ABV, as there isn’t all that much going on at this low proof. A touch of bitterness creeps in at the very end. Certainly on the delicate side for sherry matured.<\/p>\n Finish<\/strong>: Medium length. Not overly sweet – reminds me of exhausted juicy fruit gum once the sweetness has given out (and you are left with just the subtle, spent fruitiness). A touch of cloves persists to the end.<\/p>\n Reviews of this whisky are very consistent, as indicated by the low standard deviation above.\u00a0 Probably the most positive review I’ve seen is from Serge of Whisky Fun<\/a>, and the least positive from Michael of Diving for Pearls<\/a>. Otherwise, you can check out Whisky Advocate<\/a>, the guys at Quebec Whisky<\/a>, or Richard at the Whiskey Reviewer<\/a> for typical rankings.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" While not necessarily a house-hold name, Aberlour is widely perceived among scotch enthusiasts as a consistently good choice – and one of the best value plays among highland\/speyside single malts. Indeed, I have sometimes seen Aberlour referred to as the poor man’s Macallan, due to the similar composition and flavour profile for many of their expressions. The double cask matured<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2086,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[28,44,29,17],"class_list":["post-2083","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-whiskies","tag-12yo","tag-aberlour","tag-sherry","tag-single-malt"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whiskyanalysis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2083","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whiskyanalysis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whiskyanalysis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whiskyanalysis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whiskyanalysis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2083"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/whiskyanalysis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2083\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2154,"href":"https:\/\/whiskyanalysis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2083\/revisions\/2154"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whiskyanalysis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2086"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whiskyanalysis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2083"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whiskyanalysis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2083"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whiskyanalysis.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2083"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nAberlour 12yo Non-Chill-Filtered: 8.80 \u00b1 0.24 on 11 reviews ($$$)
\nAuchentoshan Three Wood: 8.26 \u00b1 0.41 on 21 reviews ($$$$)
\nBalvenie 12yo Doublewood: 8.45 \u00b1 0.34 on 19 reviews ($$$$)
\nBenRiach 12yo Matured in Sherry Wood: 8.68 \u00b1 0.23 on 11 reviews ($$$)
\nBunnahabhain 12yo: 8.57 \u00b1 0.31 on 16 reviews ($$$)
\nDalmore 12yo: 8.45 \u00b1 0.27 on 16 reviews ($$$)
\nGlenDronach 12yo Original: 8.58 \u00b1 0.22 on 20 reviews ($$$)
\nGlenfarclas 12yo: 8.63 \u00b1 0.35 on 16 reviews ($$$)
\nGlenkinchie Distiller’s Edition: 8.38 \u00b1 0.30 on 12 reviews ($$$$)
\nGlenmorangie Lasanta: 8.40 \u00b1 0.36 on 18 reviews ($$$)
\nMacallan 12yo Fine Oak: 8.47 \u00b1 0.40 on 14 reviews ($$$$)<\/p>\n![\"Aberlour.12.Double\"](\"http:\/\/whiskyanalysis.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Aberlour.12.Double.jpg\")
The Aberlour 12yo Double Cask Matured reminds me a bit of Auchentoshan Three Wood or the BenRiach 12yo Matured in Sherry Wood – in all these cases, there is a fairly gentle underlying base spirit. If anything, I suspect the Aberlour 12 spent less time in sherry casks than the others, but it is still a good introduction to the Aberlour house style.\u00a0 A good place to start, and something of the opposite extreme from the “sherry bomb” A’bunadh<\/a>.<\/p>\n