Aberfeldy Single Cask 16 Years Old 1996

Distilled at Aberfeldy in 1996 and matured 16 years in a single ex Bourbon cask numbered 6814, bottled by John Dewar & Sons in 2013 at full cask strength 61.5% for the UK specialist trade under the Single Cask designation. This release sits at the transition point when the distillery moved from ad hoc Single Cask releases into the formalised Exceptional Cask Series programme curated by Stephanie MacLeod (John Dewar & Sons' Master Blender), which became the standard route for single cask Aberfeldy from the mid 2010s onwards.

Long fermentation Aberfeldy wash from the four still post expansion configuration, distilled in 1996 in the final United Distillers ownership years of the distillery, two years before the 1998 sale to Bacardi. Filled into a single ex Bourbon cask and aged 16 years at the distillery's warehouses. Bottled at undiluted cask strength 61.5% with no chill filtering and no caramel adjustment.

Sixteen years in ex Bourbon American oak at the cask's natural 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 providing developed caramel and toasted cereal. Aberfeldy's house ester profile (ethyl laurate, ethyl myristate, heavier alcohols) drives a sharp heather honey core at 61.5%, the high strength concentrating ester volatility on the nose and producing an oily, ester rich palate.