Aberlour 14 Single malt whisky review. Can a 40% abv whisky still be great? 

What is your favourite Aberlour? Please remember to like share and subscribe to help the channel grow. It costs you nothing. But it does help some u fortunate kids with a meal. All ad review, super chat PayPal and all donations will go towards buying food for 75 kids in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. 100% of all donations will be used on food. My Patreon account www.patreon.com/Gertretief

My favourite Aberlour is Aberlour 18. I have no problem with a lower ABV. I have been drinking scotch for a couple of years and I have come to learn quite a bit about scotch but I have some favourite expressions that are 43% such as Lagavulin and I thoroughly enjoy a couple of expressions from different distilleries that are 40% and yet I really enjoy them. Sure I prefer a 46% ABV or higher but I also know many people who find anything above 46% ABV to be too much for them. I think we leave a lot of excellent expressions out if we insist on these super high ABV percentages. I don't ever want to dismiss distilleries that put out what I enjoy because of the ABV%. I am a small person - so perhaps 40-43% hits me more easily than someone of a bigger, heavier size. I can also drink 46% and up quite easily and I enjoy these expressions so much but I don't ever want every expression up high in the 50s!! I want scotch to have options for everyone. I so prefer high quality scotch - nothing added, no chill filtering and sure at least 43-46% ABV but I want the scotch community to be accessible to all! No snobs!! Lol!! I'm teasing you Gert!! You are a terrific person!! Aberlour expressions are not what I reach to often as I don't find them all that complex but I do have a dram here and there. I love a punch of peat and usually at a good ABV% but I also love a really good complexity when I drink single malt scotch whiskies. The complexity is the draw for me!! Terrific video! I have had the Aberlour 14 quite a few times and friendly is a good way to describe it! Even the 18 isn't as complex as I hoped for. I don't like the huge colour that Aberlour adds. That does bother me. I enjoy your opinions a lot Gert!! I know you have a big sweet tooth and you like a good punch!! I do too but (the punch - no sweet tooth usually!) but I have time for many lower ABV expressions as well!! Cheers!! 🙂Oh! Aberlour 14 is $110 before taxes in Canada - forgot to mention this - so I wouldn't buy it again at this price. I'd grab the Ardbeg Ten over the Aberlour 14 every time for the same price or the Laphroaig for $85 Canadian before taxes or the Lagavulin 8!!! Great deals to me for what I get in these expressions!!

The 18 I was blown away by, but it seems to have changed from the 500ml bottle to 700ml - though the colour is not as dark it seems, so always have been curious on the 14 - great review!

Although A'bunadh is a mandatory step on the journey, my favorite Aberlour is the Casg Annamh. To be honest these are the only 2 bottles I own and I would replace both if I had emptied them and came across at a good price. The Casg Annamh is almost a perfect dram. Albeit colored and NAS. The flavors from the bourbon and the sherry are well balanced and the ABV of 48% gives us plenty of room for water and slurping noises. The rest of the lineup is of no interest to me. I can't spend money on 43%, so forget about 40%. For me, 46% is the standard simply because that's what's available with the integrity core ranges. From my bar I choose a dram to pour either something big and bold or a 46%. Water is there almost all the time. Shopping is much easier when you can eliminate half the choices right off the bat.

I enjoyed the first bottle of Aberlour 16 @40% and it did not stop me from getting a backup. I have also enjoyed A'bunadh that is scorching 61.5%. The point is at what abv level you think the whisky is giving you the best experience. I would have a sip or two of A'bunadh at full strength but would add water to bring it down a bit to open up the flavors even more and get the most out of it. I would rather keep my mind and wallet open to lower than 46% abv whiskies because sometimes that can serve you well. I wonder if the prices would be much lower for 40% or 43% Macallan bottles which we know they are not.

I tend to dislike 40% single malts, I usually feel them watery. I remember the first time I tasted Macallan 12 sherry and how I felt it a bit watery. Laphroaig 10 is 40% only but the peat hides it a bit. With bourbon I’m not so sensible to the 40% ABV.

The Scotch Industry some 200 years ago is not preparing for 2020+ this day : we are the NEW Nerds of scotch. Most like 40% because it is ok. . . . 1990-2010 was the golden era. Now we are being robbed ! (haha).

It would be better if it was 46% instead of 40%. For me there is better options for the price range.

To me I didn't get it until I took Aberlour and had some Glenlivet, Tamdhu, and Glengoyne one after the other to compare. I realized although it wasn't bad at all on its own, it really fell flat and mute compare to some other bottles in the same price range.