Aberfeldy 12 Years Old 2010 Cask #DL 16960 (Old Particular)

Distilled at Aberfeldy in 2010 and matured 12 years in a single ex Bourbon cask numbered DL 16960, bottled by Douglas Laing in 2022 at 48.4% for the German specialist trade. Released under the Old Particular series, the Glasgow firm's flagship single cask, near cask strength line. 462 bottles from the cask. Douglas Laing, founded 1948 by Fred Douglas Laing and family owned across three generations, split into separate firms in 2013 with Old Particular remaining under Fred and Cara Laing's Douglas Laing & Co.

Long fermentation Aberfeldy spirit from the four still post expansion configuration, distilled in 2010 under John Dewar & Sons (Bacardi) ownership. Filled into a single ex Bourbon cask and aged 12 years at Douglas Laing's bonded warehouses. Bottled at 48.4% without chill filtering and without caramel adjustment, matching the Old Particular house specification of single cask transparency and undiluted character.

A refill or first fill ex Bourbon cask at 12 years produces a focused American oak signature: vanillin from lignin breakdown, cis whisky lactones giving coconut and dill, plus furfural and 5 hydroxymethylfurfural from hemicellulose breakdown providing soft caramel and toasted cereal. Aberfeldy's distillery character carries through with its medium chain ethyl ester profile (ethyl laurate, ethyl myristate) and heavier alcohols giving the honey and beeswax signature. At 48.4% the ester load and oak extraction sit in balance, the slight reduction off cask strength keeping the texture oily rather than hot.