Head-to-head Scotch Tasting: Glenrothes vs Aberlour

As a friend pointed out, I have been a little delinquent on my posting, so I was determined last night to rectify that and hauled out some nosing glasses and two newer purchases to compare. Are these fair comparisons? I don't know. I'm not exactly scientific here at Epi-Q, but it's always fun to pitch whiskies against each other. Or for that matter compare Michel Richard Central's fried chicken to Popeye's (hmmm, I think Popeye's might come out on top).

For this tasting we will look at two Speyside Highland malts. Both are aged at least for a portion of their lives in sherry casks. In terms of price, the Glenrothes is more expensive (by about $20). Glenrothes has made a cottage industry out of vintage bottlings. This one is the 1991 vintage, aged 15 years and bottled at 43% ABV in 2006. The Aberlour 12 year old is the new standard entry-level Aberlour from the distillery for the US market, replacing the excellent 10 year old. The Aberlour is double cask matured, spending a good chunk of its life in traditional oak casks and then finishing in sherry casks. How long it spends in sherry is a good question. Their website doesn't give much information.

The two whiskies have nearly identical deep gold-amber color, which is rich and enticing. The Glenrothes has a subdued nose without water followed by sharp nose prickle from the alcohol. I thought I detected a faint bit of taffy in the background. On first taste it is very oily and coats the tongue. The Aberlour has a brighter nose than the Glenrothes with faint honey and flowers. Its taste is slicker but also coats well. Adding water, the Glenrothes opens up with toffee, hazelnut, faint vanilla and maybe even strawberry, whereas the Aberlour almost dies off. It is herbal, straw, maybe soap or lavender, but with more time it comes back a bit. Its taste is now sweeter with some oil and a long finish, while the Glenrothes is still a little sharp and less coating.

I let both sit a bit longer and I think the Glenrothes gains more sweetness and rounds out as it is exposed to air. The Aberlour is a little disappointing compared to the old 10 year old, but I will have to revisit it again in the future before I pronounce definitively on it.