Aberfeldy 7 Years Old NSS Cask Series 019 (North Star)

Distilled at Aberfeldy in 2014 and matured 7 years in Oloroso sherry casks, bottled by North Star Spirits in 2022 at cask strength 57.8% as release 019 in the NSS Cask Series. 297 bottles produced from the vatting. North Star Spirits was founded in 2016 in Glasgow by Iain Croucher, with the NSS Cask Series running as a sequentially numbered programme of small batch indie releases at cask strength, no chill filtering and full transparency on cask provenance.

Long fermentation Aberfeldy wash from the four still configuration, distilled in 2014 under John Dewar & Sons (Bacardi) ownership. Aged 7 years in Oloroso sherry casks, vatted for the NSS Cask Series 019 release. Bottled at cask strength 57.8% with no chill filtering and no caramel adjustment.

Seven years in Oloroso sherry casks at cask strength produces a vivid sherry signature at young spirit age: melanoidins from prior sherry reduction in the staves contribute dark fruit and walnut, ellagitannins and gallic acid from European oak supply the tannin grip and bittersweet chocolate, and oxidative acetals develop walnut skin notes. Aberfeldy's house esters (ethyl laurate, ethyl myristate, heavier alcohols) drive the heather honey base, with 57.8% holding the full ester load against the sherry tannin frame on the palate.