Aberfeldy 14 Years Old 2011 Cask #7791 (G&M)

Distilled at Aberfeldy in 2011 and matured 14 years in a single first fill Oloroso sherry butt numbered 7791, bottled by Gordon & MacPhail in 2026 at cask strength 61.1%. Sister cask to the firm's earlier Spirit of Scotland release from butt 5609 (also 2011 vintage, also 14 years, also 61.1%), released a year later from a different sherry butt held in the same Elgin parcel. 565 bottles drawn from this cask.

Long fermentation Aberfeldy wash from the four still configuration, distilled in 2011 under John Dewar & Sons (Bacardi) ownership. Filled into a first fill Oloroso butt and aged 14 years at G&M's Elgin warehouses. Bottled at full cask strength 61.1% with no chill filtering and no caramel adjustment, matching the Spirit of Scotland house format.

Two first fill Oloroso butts from the same parcel will diverge across 14 years based on stave history, prior sherry retention and exact warehouse position. Butt 7791 runs slightly drier and tannin firmer than its 5609 sister: ellagitannin and gallic acid extraction sits at the top of its range, producing a more pronounced bittersweet chocolate and walnut skin grip, with melanoidin driven dark fruit slightly tighter. Aberfeldy's ester load (ethyl laurate, ethyl myristate, heavier alcohols) holds the heather honey and beeswax base, but in this expression the sherry tannin frame is the leading note rather than the fruit.