Aberfeldy Exceptional Cask Series 20 Years Old 1998 Cask #118

Distilled at Aberfeldy in 1998 and matured 20 years through ex Bourbon ageing with an Oloroso sherry finish in single cask 118, bottled by John Dewar & Sons in 2018 at cask strength 54% under the Exceptional Cask Series for the European specialist trade. 594 bottles in total. The Exceptional Cask Series is the distillery's curated single cask line, launched around 2013 under Master Blender Stephanie MacLeod (John Dewar & Sons, IWSC Master Distiller of the Year three years running 2019 to 2021) as the formal home for single cask Aberfeldy releases.

Long fermentation Aberfeldy wash from the four still configuration, distilled in 1998 in the transition year between United Distillers and Bacardi ownership of the distillery. Initial ex Bourbon American oak maturation followed by an Oloroso sherry cask finish, totalling 20 years in single cask 118 before bottling at cask strength 54% with no chill filtering and no caramel adjustment, the Exceptional Cask Series house specification.

A two stage cask programme combines the primary American oak signature (vanillin from lignin breakdown, cis whisky lactones for coconut and dill, hemicellulose furanic compounds for caramel) with the Oloroso finish layer (melanoidins from prior sherry reduction for walnut and dried fig, ellagitannins and gallic acid from European oak for tannin grip, oxidative acetals for baked fruit). Aberfeldy's house esters (ethyl laurate, ethyl myristate, heavier alcohols) hold the heather honey base across both phases, with 54% sitting at a balanced cask strength.