Aberfeldy 31 Years Old 1991 Cask #4190 (Connoisseurs Choice)

Distilled at Aberfeldy in 1991 and matured for 31 years in a single Oloroso sherry cask numbered 4190, bottled by Gordon & MacPhail in 2022 at cask strength 60%. Part of the firm's Connoisseurs Choice Cask Strength sub series, which represents the modern repositioning of the CC name into single cask, undiluted bottlings released into the European specialist market. 530 bottles drawn from the cask.

Long fermentation Aberfeldy wash from the four still post expansion configuration, distilled in 1991 during the United Distillers ownership era. Transferred into a single Oloroso sherry cask and aged 31 years at G&M's Elgin warehouses. Bottled at full cask strength 60% with no chill filtering and no caramel adjustment, the standard CC Cask Strength format.

Three decades in seasoned Oloroso butt drives heavy melanoidin extraction from prior sherry reduction in the staves, sotolon development (3 hydroxy 4,5 dimethyl 2(5H) furanone giving baked fruit and aged Cognac depth), and substantial ellagitannin plus gallic acid extraction from European oak. These produce the walnut skin, dried fig, dark chocolate and tobacco character. Aberfeldy's house ester profile, ethyl laurate and ethyl myristate plus heavier alcohols, supports a heather honey core that survives the long sherry contact. Thirty one years of slow oxidation also develop acetals contributing fortified Madeira and toasted nut notes.