Aberfeldy 10 Years Old 2014 Cask #252 (Keeble Cask Company Ltd.)

Distilled at Aberfeldy in 2014 and matured 10 years in a single ex Bourbon cask numbered 252, bottled by Keeble Cask Company Ltd. in 2024 at cask strength 60.7% under the Fragrant Drops sub series for the European specialist trade. 207 bottles in total. Keeble Cask Company is a newer UK based indie bottler focused on small batch single cask releases at full cask strength, with Fragrant Drops as one of their identifying sub series.

Long fermentation Aberfeldy wash from the four still configuration, distilled in 2014 under John Dewar & Sons (Bacardi) ownership. Filled into a single ex Bourbon cask and aged 10 years before bottling at full cask strength 60.7% with no chill filtering and no caramel adjustment. The tight 207 bottle yield indicates either a smaller cask format than a standard hogshead or higher than average evaporation over the maturation.

Ten years at the cask's natural strength gives a concentrated oak profile: vanillin from lignin breakdown at moderate to upper levels, cis whisky lactones contributing pronounced coconut and dill, and hemicellulose breakdown supplying the soft caramel and toasted cereal layer. Aberfeldy's house ester profile (ethyl laurate, ethyl myristate, heavier alcohols) drives a sharp heather honey core at 60.7%, the high strength concentrating ester volatility on the nose and producing the floral fragrant character the bottler referenced in the sub series name.