Aberfeldy Exceptional Cask Series 20 Years Old 1998 Cask #119

Distilled at Aberfeldy in 1998 and matured 20 years in a single Oloroso sherry cask numbered 119, bottled by John Dewar & Sons in 2019 at cask strength 54.1% under the Exceptional Cask Series for event market distribution. 618 bottles in total. Sister cask to ECS cask 118 released the previous year: same 1998 vintage, same 20 year age, but matured end to end in Oloroso rather than the ex Bourbon plus Oloroso finish programme of cask 118.

Long fermentation Aberfeldy spirit from the four still configuration, distilled in 1998 in the transition year between United Distillers and Bacardi ownership. Filled into a single Oloroso sherry cask and aged 20 years at the distillery's warehouses. Bottled at cask strength 54.1% with no chill filtering and no caramel adjustment under the Exceptional Cask Series house specification.

Twenty years in a seasoned Oloroso butt produces a fully developed sherry signature: melanoidins from prior sherry reduction in the staves drive the walnut, dried fig and dark chocolate character, ellagitannins and gallic acid from European oak supply the tannin grip and bittersweet edge, and sotolon development reaches into baked fruit and aged Cognac depth. Aberfeldy's house esters (ethyl laurate, ethyl myristate, heavier alcohols) hold the heather honey core through two decades of sherry contact. Heavier on the sherry frame than the cask 118 sibling, with the all Oloroso programme delivering more pronounced walnut skin and dark sugar than the bourbon plus finish version.