Aberfeldy Hand Bottled at the Distillery 18 Years Old 1999

Distilled at Aberfeldy in 1999 and matured 18 years in a single Pedro Ximenez sherry cask, bottled at the distillery in 2018 at cask strength 57% under the Hand Bottled at the Distillery programme. 565 bottles released. The cask carries internal number 3, drawn from the small numbering set aside for the visitor centre hand fill series rather than the main distillery cask register. The Hand Bottled programme runs through the Dewar's Aberfeldy Distillery visitor venue that opened in 2000 under Bacardi ownership, with selected casks held back specifically for on site release.

Long fermentation Aberfeldy wash from the four still post expansion configuration, distilled in 1999 in the first full year of John Dewar & Sons (Bacardi) ownership. Filled into a single Pedro Ximenez sherry cask and aged 18 years at the distillery's warehouses. Bottled on site at cask strength 57% with no chill filtering and no caramel adjustment, the Hand Bottled house specification.

Eighteen years in a Pedro Ximenez sherry cask drives the heaviest sherry chemistry in the range: PX sherry leaves more residual sugar and concentrated polyphenols in the staves than Oloroso, producing higher melanoidin extraction from prior PX reduction, more pronounced sotolon development giving aged Cognac and burnt sugar depth, and substantial ellagitannin and gallic acid extraction from European oak. The result is a thick dark chocolate, raisin and treacle profile. Aberfeldy's house esters (ethyl laurate, ethyl myristate, heavier alcohols) hold the heather honey base underneath, with 57% holding the structural weight of the PX cask on the palate.