Aberfeldy 18 Years Old Cask #8510

Distilled at Aberfeldy and matured 18 years in a single ex Bourbon cask numbered 8510, bottled by John Dewar & Sons in 2010 at cask strength 54.9% under the Chris Anderson Cask name for the European specialist trade. 248 bottles in total. The release sits in the early period of named or themed single cask releases from the distillery, predating the formalised Exceptional Cask Series programme that Stephanie MacLeod (Master Blender from 2006) would later build as the standard single cask channel for Aberfeldy.

Long fermentation Aberfeldy spirit from the four still post expansion configuration, distilled in the early 1990s under United Distillers ownership of the distillery. Filled into a single ex Bourbon cask and aged 18 years at the distillery's warehouses. Bottled at cask strength 54.9% with no chill filtering and no caramel adjustment, the standard format for single cask releases of the period.

Eighteen years in ex Bourbon American oak at cask strength gives a fully developed working oak signature: vanillin from lignin breakdown at upper levels, cis whisky lactones contributing clearly framed coconut and dill, and furfural plus 5 hydroxymethylfurfural from hemicellulose supplying developed caramel and toasted cereal. Aberfeldy's house ester profile (ethyl laurate, ethyl myristate, heavier alcohols) drives the heather honey base, with 54.9% holding the full ester load on the nose and the oily mouthfeel intact on the palate.