Aberfeldy has unveiled an 18 Years Old French Red Wine Cask Scotch Whisky. The limited edition expression joins the Highland distillery’s core portfolio of 12-, 16- and 21-year-old expressions.
The Aberfeldy 18 Years Old French Red Wine Cask Whisky was initially aged 18 years in a combination of first fill Bourbon, refill, and re-char casks. Then it went through a second maturation period of up to 5 months in French wine casks from Pauillac, a French appellation in the Médoc wine region of Bordeaux, located in the département of Gironde, on the left bank of the Gironde estuary.
“The style of Pauillac wine is what many think of as textbook Bordeaux wine; a balance of power and grace with notable flavours of cassis, blackberry, tobacco, cigar box, spice, earth and cedar wood aromas coupled with firm tannins,” explains the brand.
“Pauillac casks are the aristocrats of the Médoc,” said Aberfeldy Malt Master, Stephanie MacLeod, in a prepared statement. “They provide notes of black cherries, blackberries and a cedar wood spice. Aberfeldy’s wonderfully soft signature honey and creamy vanilla notes are invigorated with swathes of plush ripe fruits and lovely nutty aromas to create an incredibly elegant and fruitful whisky.”
MacLeod “carefully monitored maturation and flavour development in the casks until the desired flavour profile had been achieved. Pauillac is a robust wine, so the goal was to use this cask type to complement and elevate the signature character of Aberfeldy, not mask it.”
Bottled at 43% ABV, Aberfeldy 18 Years Old French Red Wine Cask is priced at £95 ($123 USD). It will initially be available exclusively from the distillery through mid-October, at which point it will go on sale in the United States, China, Taiwan, Germany, and France.
Aberfeldy is owned by Bacardi, who just released its Spiced Rum across the United States, just in time for football season..
