Aberfeldy 13 Years Old 2009 Cask #16602905 (Connoisseurs Choice)

Distilled at Aberfeldy in 2009 and matured 13 years in a single Oloroso sherry cask numbered 16602905, bottled by Gordon & MacPhail in 2023 at cask strength 56.2%. Released under the Connoisseurs Choice Cask Strength sub series for the Belgian specialist trade. 298 bottles in total, the full yield of a single sherry hogshead at undiluted strength.

Long fermentation Aberfeldy wash from the four still configuration, distilled in 2009 under John Dewar & Sons (Bacardi) ownership. Filled into a single Oloroso sherry cask and aged 13 years at G&M's Elgin warehouses. Bottled at full cask strength 56.2% with no chill filtering and no caramel adjustment, the standard CC Cask Strength format introduced in the mid 2010s.

A single Oloroso hogshead across 13 years drives a focused but younger sherry profile compared to a 30 year cask: melanoidins from prior sherry reduction contribute walnut and dried fig, ellagitannins and gallic acid from European oak supply the tannin grip and dark chocolate edge, and sotolon development is present but not yet dominant. Aberfeldy's house ester profile, ethyl laurate and ethyl myristate plus heavier fusel alcohols, gives a strong heather honey and beeswax presence underneath the sherry layer at this younger age. At 56.2% the texture stays oily and ester rich, with the honey and walnut framework clearly defined.