Code
Distillery
Aberfeldy
Name
Springtime Extravaganza
Producer
SMWS
Region
Speyside
Age
9 years
ABV
57.8%
Bottler Type
Independent
Category
Scotch
Flavor Profile
Young & Spritely
The whisky presents a fresh, clean character reminiscent of a recently cleaned home, with bright citrus and herbal notes that evoke the clarity of polished surfaces and open windows.
It delivers considerable heat and pungency with black pepper and chilli, followed by sweeter notes of caramel, vanilla layer cake, and lemon curd. Upon dilution, pickled manzano peppers with onion emerge alongside roasted strawberries with brown sugar and coriander.
The finish is initially prickly and dry with herbal complexity akin to chartreuse and vermouth, before resolving into a spicy-sweet conclusion featuring maple syrup, honey, caramel, and vanilla mint.
We imagined that we had just finished the spring cleaning – having vacuumed and shampooed the carpets, polished the furniture, and cleaned the windows and the linoleum floors. On the palate there was plenty of heat, chilli and black pepper before caramel slices and vanilla layer cake with lemon curd appeared. Following reduction, we discovered fresh pickled manzano peppers with onion as well as roasted strawberries with brown sugar and coriander. To taste, it was still prickly to start with as it reminded us of a chartreuse martini of dry vermouth, gin and chartreuse. The spicy finish had the surprising sweetness of maple syrup, honey, caramel and vanilla mint.