Ralfy Australia has one of the best allowances. If you are aged 18 years or over, you can bring 2.25 litres of alcoholic beverages duty-free into Australia with you. All alcoholic beverages in accompanied baggage are included in this category, regardless of where or how they were purchased.
As an Aussie I can say that Australia is certainly the most over-governed and over regulated country in the western world. They have a firm control over all of the good stuff. Nice review Ralfy. I'll be trying this bottle on the weekend.
I just got my first bottle of this. I have mixed feelings. Yes, it's higher abv and ncf but the nose is fairly simple with mild raisin notes and some milk chocolate. On the palate, much the same with wood, spice and some salt. I love my ex sherry malts, but this is off the usual spectrum I have come to expect. I just hope it gets better over time. This is an example where higher abv is not always the only metric. Edradour 10 is so much more complex at 40%.
Ralfy is quite right that there are almost no bargains at British airports but there are a few. Last week ( October 2019 ) at Heathrow they were offering your choice of 2 litres of Old Pulteney 10 or Aberlour 12 for 75 pounds. Great value on both.
Thanks for recognizing the absolutely unfair, insane and criminal import / duty rules we have here in Australia, my friend. Tobacco has now also been slammed. It used to be 500grams of duty free tobacco.... It's now 50 grams!! That's 2 large cigars! And tax on tax.... There will be revolution one day.
My favorite Aberlour!!! To add...I find this Aberlour to be as good - if not better than the A'bunadh, and probably more consistent. Here in the USA - this single malt is available in liquor stores, and a store nearby me has it for the very reasonable price of $49 for 750ml.....Yeah - we Yanks are spoiled.
Here in the US we have an additional place to buy spirits called BevMo. I call it a liquor department store. It's a large warehouse-type store that carries all types of spirits, wines, beer, and even soft drinks. Selection is better than the supermarket and local liquor store, but generally not as good as the specialists, depending on the spirit. Prices at the liquor department stores are also between the supermarket (highest prices) and the specialists (lowest).
I've become a complete malt junky & you Sir, are blamed for it! Bought this lovely expression of Aberlour & enjoying every minute of it! You deserve a medal Sir!
This is available in retail in my area in Florida for $70. /r/Scotch, the subreddit, rates this as one of the most balanced sherried whisky. I love Aberlour. I've owned bottles of the 10yo and the A'bunadh batch 36.
Ralfy you were lied to! I work in Sydney airport in the duty free store, each adult can bring in 2.25L. Also thanks for the shutout, its easy to be helpful when you only have one flight an hour, so you only really work 10 mins every hour.
Another of my favourite Distilleries, Great Review once more with some Fabulous Tips as usual, Certain Branches of Tesco, Not Online! Have apparently been selling, Aberlour, a'bunadh. For £31 in case you didn't know, sadly my Branch, Batley. Wasn't one of the stores selling it.
hi Ralfy,I enjoy so much watching your reviews.And I live in Down Under.The allowance of alcohol is 2.25litres ,regardless of strength.Just saying...Cheers,mate
This kind of thing is not necessarily my vein of UA-cam entertainment, but I have to say you are remarkably entertaining and informative. I hope to find myself in a pub one day having a conversation with the likes of yourself!
Agree completely about "travel retail" staff. I recall on more than one occasion the whisky staff offering to open a bottle or 2 for me to sample without me even asking.
Ralfy, I just wanted to let you know that I discovered your channel back in December of last year, and though I am not nearly the experienced, knowledgeable, and well spoken enthusiast of single malts like your self, I do enjoy a nice glass every once in a while. I dont indulge in a glass of scotch whiskey very often, but I do love me some cigars, and I enjoy nothing more than not watching your videos immediately, but rather later when I can get outside with a favorite (or new) cigar and listen to everything you've got to say. I love to hear your breakdowns of the flavors, characteristics, and histories of the whiskeys you review, and whatever politics may be involved with the distilleries they come from. I would love to add that I also enjoy whatever else it is you'd like to add. Whether its advice on purchasing a whiskey, a story of a past experience, or just how you like to go about life with whiskey as a ( for lack of better words) randomly appearing sidekick. You always have something interesting and informative to say without losing track of the spirit next you, making it clear to enjoy the whiskey being reviewed, or to just enjoy what we have in life other than a fine whiskey. Thanks for the great videos! I look forward to viewing each one. Cheers!
Great channel and love your reviews all the way from New Zealand. Love you to give a big shout to all the 'Maori Malt Mates' in New Zealand. P.S if you think flying to Perth is bad, try flying to Auckland via Sydney or Melbourne. You need a good drink after that trip.
From New Zealand we can take 2 bottles of spirits into Australia up to a maximum of 2 litres. Maybe things have changed since you were last there Ralfy. Or maybe it is different depending on where you are coming from.
Awesome vlog Ralfy,,thanks for sharing.If I could recommend what I think is a stunning dram its the Kavalan sherry wood,,,absolutely delish..cheers to the aqua vitea.
That's an interesting fact! It's still called Duty Free in all the places in North America (that I have been to) And the prices are sometimes phenomenal!! 3/8L of chivas? $16 1L of Johnnie Walker? $35 Single malts on the other hand, are almost all NAS or glenlivet
Ralfy you can bring up to 2.25L of spirits into Australia, must have changed the rules since you travelled here. There is a (stupid) rule though where you can only carry-on alcohol if it's purchased from your last stopover, and even then it must be sealed in a bag and carried to the gate by the duty free staff. Otherwise it must be in your checked luggage underneath. The USA has the same rule for carry-on I believe.
I used to get my bottles of whisky exclusively from airport Duty Frees. That was back in time when Israel had 200% + tax on spirits. (Now I prefer to buy locally where prices are coming down and variety is going up). I had a list of friends who fly on business in and out of Israel and would ask them to get me those 1 Litre bottles. I began to build up a good picture of Duty Frees around the world. The shops are split into two departments - those buying within Europe (Travel Retail) and those buying to take out of Europe (Duty Free). I have a list of bookmarks in my browser for all the Duty Free Internet sites that my friends frequent and would browse through them and send my request to the friend. I was always excited when someone was flying out of Manchester, Heathrow, Gatwick or Stansted as they have specialist whisky shops in the Duty Free lounge and the stock is always more varied than the airports in the rest of Europe with lots of interesting stuff. Luton however has no specialist whisky shop and pickings are lean- a pity as more and more of my friends started using this airport because it offered the cheapest flights. Nowadays though, I find the variety and prices in even these airport specialist stores to be disappointing with a few exceptions. When I am in the UK I prefer to spend my whisky money in "real" specialist whisky shops in the UK buying something really special which I would not be able to get in Israel. Airports in Western and Eastern Europe tend to have almost exactly the same stock but at varied prices. (They all use the same Internet sites though). There was a time when you could get your standard quality drams but in 1 Litre bottles. Then the No Age Statement with the fancy name bottlings began to take off (excuse the pun), offering young immature whisky at “high altitude” prices. A classic example: the wonderful 1 Litre Laphroaig 10 YO which a few years ago you could get everywhere, disappeared and was replaced by first, the Quarter Cask and later by the QA cask. Similarly is the “Master Distiller’s” editions - also NAS with high price tag. The wonderful “The Glenlivet Nadurra 16 Year Old) is now replaced by the Nadurra Olorosso No Age Satement. Same goes for the Bowmores and Taliskers - Now ALL NAS. The Caol Ila 12 YO has completely disappeared from Duty Frees as well. There are still a few good whiskies to be found in 1 Litre bottles at the airport like Glenmorangie 10 YO, Ardbeg 10 YO, Scapa 16 YO, the Glen Grants 10, and 16 YO and the standard Glenlivets with Year statements, , You can still get Laphroaig 10 in Asia and Tomintoul 10, 14 and 16 from Cyprus airport which also has a specialist whisky shop.
@@JohnDoe-ve6mf I've got about a third of the bottle left, it's a beautiful sherry bomb as advertised. An absolutely great value proposition. I concur with Ralfy's rating of 88.
I'm posting in September 2019 and can't find this product anywhere. Every outlet including the airports only carries the 40% version. There is a new travel retail product called Aberlour Casg Annamh which is 48% but unfortunately NAS. While I'm at it here are a few observations on airport whisky shopping. The best airport is Frankfurt with both a huge selection and genuine duty free prices. Second best is Sydney where you can buy at duty free prices both on the way in and out. That is convenient for anyone coming from USA or UK. Third best is Dublin but only if you want Irish whiskey. Abu Dhabi is great for service but not prices. There will be a little man on duty all day handing out samples of something or other so act genuinely interested and you can usually squeeze a second dram out of him. USA airports are the worst with an astonishingly terrible selection and I have no idea why. Tequila lovers should take a look because they usually have Herradura or Don Julio on special. Both are great value for money at around $45. You can often be better off buying retail in USA, especially with bourbons, and putting the bottle in your checked bag on the way out. UK airports are second worst with a huge selection but at high prices. Only buy at a UK airport if you spot something not sold at your local shops. Always look out for airport specials. Today Frankfurt has regular Aberlour 12 at a mere 47 euro/litre while Sydney has Ardbeg 10 for 43 pounds/litre.
hehe great to see that my request from three weeks ago on another aberlour video has been reviewed by you already. still haven't opened my bottle of the non-chill filtered version yet though.
Hi Ralfy. Thak you for your last review. Today I visited the local specialist whisky store and had a good conversation. I asked for a bottle that was overlooked and received its price tag some years ago. So I ended up with a bottle of 44 year-old oak matured spirit for 88 Euros! Obviously it was no whisky but an armagnac, that I bought without further online research. My question is, if you know online tasting notes for armagnac? I didn't find anything helpful on the internet. P.S. Made the same experience on airports and ferrys. Lots of no-age-statement bottles and not the best prices.
Hey Ralfy, thanks for the video! I'd be interested to know how distillers or bottlers manage the alcohol by volume, how do they hit the percentage that they want and how do they keep very old whisky from losing too much of the alcohol by volume. Maybe in a next video? Cheers from Canada!
I have been waiting for this one. Love the 18 Yr, a lot, and thought the standard 12 was good, but thin. Expected better stuff in this bottle. Curious if you have tried the 2014 Unpeated 15 Caol Ila?
This was exciting, I finally found a whisky here in the states that you reviewed, and I got to try it as you were giving your notes. Very interesting. The Aberlour's pretty good. The only other one I've gotten to try with you is McCarthy's Oregon Single Malt Whiskey, which I really enjoyed. =)
Hi Ralfy! Would love to see what you think of Jameson's Black barrel select reserve! Relatively new to the scene, one for tasting! All the best from Ireland.
Hello Ralfy lad. just got back from ye ol state store! Our A12 was quite different than yours especially at a meager 40%AbV. Had it once before and it was quite thin. Thought maybe they upped their game with 48% but no such deal! Passed it by on those grounds & opted for a very nice fruit tangy Tomatin12...for the price $27USD it was a no brainer. Its a rather nice jobbin single malt. Any T12 reviews in the cooker? Peace
I just noticed, Ralfy, that in review 358, you gave Aberlour 10 (the first whisky I fell in love with) a score of 88/100. I assume this is a matter of the 10 y/o being a great quality single malt AND a fantastic value. The 12 year non-chill filtered costs a bit more, but balances the cost with an appropriate increase in flavour and lack of chill-filtration. Is this why the scores are the same? Just curious. - Sincerely, your munifying malty mundificative
Ralfy Hey, if you get the opportunity, could you comment on Longmorn 16? No need for an entire review, just a word or two. My research indicated it was either 5 star or 1 star and seemingly nothingness thereafter, but I was in a local liquor establishment and saw the "packaging" (very nice), noticed it was 48% ABV, ON SALE, and on the label stated non-chill filtered. Tried it and was not my most favorite, but I, ME, found it to be excellent. Just would love to read or hear your expertise. Mike Maryland, USA
I had a bottle of this a year ago and I really enjoyed it. Interesting though how long it took for the bottle to open up and to reveal it's full potential , 2 months at least.
hi ralfy! took me a few weeks to get internet access after I moved to a new house. thank you for the malt mention and don´t worry about the delay. my wife margarete was really delightet as she also is kind of fan of ralfy. got me a sample of aberlour 12y non chilled and I must say I was astonished by the quality of that one. have you already tasted the newest batch of springbank 12 c.s.? wonder if I should buy a bottle.
Hi Ralfy! I always have trouble comparing the travel retail versions of whisky with the "regular" stuff. For example the Macallan "Select Oak" and "Whisky Maker's Edition". What on earth is that supposed to mean anyway? (Question not aimed at you directly but spoken in general frustration!) Also, on a whim I bought an Auchentoshan Heartwood in a combo deal with a Bowmore 10YO. The Bowmore is fine but the Auchentoshan is a real lemon. Absolutely horrible stuff. And I have a little under a liter left!!! aargh
Hi Ralfy, great review and great review series! I took you advice on specialist shops, coming from Belfast I didn't expect there to be many here, but a google search later and a few wine merchants popped up with a wide range of interesting whiskeys at good prices. Just was wondering though have you tried Nikka Whisky from the barrel?
Love the channel Ralfy. I've come across some bottles from an independent bottler called Lombard and their Jewels of Scotland series. They are in my local specialist shop here north of Boston. Have you tried them? Their main office is on The Isle of Man.
Not chill filtering ADDING a creamy mouthfeel and ENHANCING the whisky sounds like newspeak to me. Not chill filtering a whisky means NOT REMOVING a creamy mouthfeel and NOT DEGRADING the whisky if you ask me.
Ralfy! Just picked up a bottle of this today and thought I'd see what you had to say about it. Question for you--where do you taste your whiskeys? You always appear so warmly dressed in your videos. Cheers from Washington DC, over here in the colonies!
Brian DeSutter Quite right Brian. There are plenty of other examples as well. Ardbeg Uigeadail and Corryvreckan, Coal Ila Cask Strength, Longrow CV to name a few. As a statement against the way things are going NAS is not reviewable this year.
Hello Ralfy, is there a noticeable difference between the chill and non chill Aberlour? I've tasted some of the standards and I was disappointed most times. Nose was really great but taste was often flat and far away from rich and complexe. So, my hope is, that the higher ABV and the non chill will bring me this brand closer.
Always learn something useful with your reviews Ralfy. Your opinion has yet to steer me wrong. How did your magnifying glass get to be called a steam punker? Take care, Ossie
I kno it varys Ralfy but r u awar of the mor common sherys (/winery's) tht r used in sheried wiskys? ala exampl of bourbons used = MakersMark 4 Laphraoig etc. Thnx
I had a half full Bottle of Jameson's in my bag coming home from the US, nobody stopped me. I've kept the empty bottle on my shelf as a souvenir since it's a different style label/bottle and 50ml bigger than standard.
Hi Ralfy, my local bottle shop here in Australia sells the 40%abv Aberlour. They call it a "12 year old double cask" Assuming you haven't tried it and considering your comments about certain whiskys being weak if bottled at 40% do you think that this one would be one to avoid?
I bought this bottle at Costco in Hawaii, on vacation last November. It wasn't bad, but a bit generic tasting to me. I don't think I'd buy it again, but won't pass if offered.
Funny story...One of my mates is a salesman working for a large Pharmaceutical company in Israel. He travels all over the world. Visiting different places can be exciting and interesting but hanging around in the airport lounge waiting for your flight gets boring and tedious. He doesn’t care much for whisky so was more than happy to waste some time in the airport buying duty free bottles for me. So when anybody asked me where I got such a lot of whisky from I'd simply answer that I get it from our friendly local international drugs dealer...
if i were to buy my first aberlour should i go with the 10 first then work my way up as to familiarise myself with the style or could i jump in with this expression? im reasonably new to single malts and so prefer smoother stuff for the moment
Greetings Ralfy. I just noticed something on the Aberlour website, which is similar to what I noticed on the Glenlivet website, a whisky missing on their "range" page. Have you noticed, Ralfy, that the Aberlour website is no longer including this whisky (the 12yo un-chilled @ 48% ABV) as part of the their range? Do you have any thoughts on what this might imply? I am coming to the conclusion that this fine whisky is being discontinued.
***** Thanks for the reply Ralfy. Once again, "sign of the times," and "writing on the wall." It will be a big disappointment if they (Aberlour) moves away from this expression, but it is up to us (the consumers) to act accordingly. I just picked up two bottles yesterday and will likely get more before they are more difficult to find. I am looking forward to your next review. Cheers.
Australians commenting about recognizing "the absolutely unfair, insane and criminal import / duty rules" of Australia never ever imagined the abuse it is to import in Brazil. Its twice worse.
The same thing happens in Florida. If you reant a car, you end up paying tax on tax, There is no justice, but there never was. You pay and you pay for what you pay. Go figure.
I mean, Ralfy, how can you say the kind of thing you say about flights??? There are 15000 km between UK and Australia. You can fly 7000km in a concorde at about 2000km/h. So if you refueled very quickly in the middle of your flight in a concorde you'll almost reach Australia but not quite in under 10 hours. Unfortunately there is no concorde anymore. Then what are you predicting? New planes take on the order of a decade to develop -that is, rather on the higher part of that range 20+ years. In 30 year you'll have maybe 1 or 2 really new planes out from Airbus and Boeing for public transportation. They will be certainly economically viable machines, not anything like a concorde, which was discontinued and does not fly anymore. So why would you predict we'll fly at 2000km/h over superlong distances in the near future when there's been no advance in technology that could be implemented in a plane? It's ok to live in your world, it's ok you post widely seen videos, but it'd be better if you made some efforts of keeping close to reality. It's not an "opinion" you're giving by the way, it's a guess, or prediction, which cannot happen or has already happened (for small, specialized flights). And thanks for the many good stuffs you say in this and other videos. Some things you say are just a little shocking, to me and many I guess.
Ralfy Australia has one of the best allowances. If you are aged 18 years or over, you can bring 2.25 litres of alcoholic beverages duty-free into Australia with you. All alcoholic beverages in accompanied baggage are included in this category, regardless of where or how they were purchased.
Lol
As an Aussie I can say that Australia is certainly the most over-governed and over regulated country in the western world. They have a firm control over all of the good stuff.
Nice review Ralfy. I'll be trying this bottle on the weekend.
Word, i could not find the 48% just the 40%....which is actually pretty good
Australia was and maybe still is the biggest penal colony :)
Boy, if you only knew what they had planned via Covid. Is freedom considered the good stuff?
@@jfgjr2 I do know and there's no way I'm taking their poison. It's the new world order.
I just got my first bottle of this. I have mixed feelings. Yes, it's higher abv and ncf but the nose is fairly simple with mild raisin notes and some milk chocolate. On the palate, much the same with wood, spice and some salt. I love my ex sherry malts, but this is off the usual spectrum I have come to expect. I just hope it gets better over time. This is an example where higher abv is not always the only metric. Edradour 10 is so much more complex at 40%.
Ralfy is quite right that there are almost no bargains at British airports but there are a few. Last week ( October 2019 ) at Heathrow they were offering your choice of 2 litres of Old Pulteney 10 or Aberlour 12 for 75 pounds. Great value on both.
Agreed. The Aberlour 10, 12, 16 and 18 are some of the best single malts for the buck that you can get.
Thanks for recognizing the absolutely unfair, insane and criminal import / duty rules we have here in Australia, my friend.
Tobacco has now also been slammed. It used to be 500grams of duty free tobacco.... It's now 50 grams!! That's 2 large cigars!
And tax on tax.... There will be revolution one day.
My favorite Aberlour!!!
To add...I find this Aberlour to be as good - if not better than the A'bunadh, and probably more consistent.
Here in the USA - this single malt is available in liquor stores, and a store nearby me has it for the very reasonable price of $49 for 750ml.....Yeah - we Yanks are spoiled.
God how I miss this single malt.
Here in the US we have an additional place to buy spirits called BevMo. I call it a liquor department store. It's a large warehouse-type store that carries all types of spirits, wines, beer, and even soft drinks. Selection is better than the supermarket and local liquor store, but generally not as good as the specialists, depending on the spirit. Prices at the liquor department stores are also between the supermarket (highest prices) and the specialists (lowest).
I've become a complete malt junky & you Sir, are blamed for it! Bought this lovely expression of Aberlour & enjoying every minute of it! You deserve a medal Sir!
. . . happy to help with the malt-moments !
Glad you came to this whisky and the topic as well Ralfy, very informative.
Great grandfather worked for aberlour... a drahm a day was part of his pay which he gave to his mum. I love the abunadh have the 12 and 18 as well.
This is available in retail in my area in Florida for $70. /r/Scotch, the subreddit, rates this as one of the most balanced sherried whisky. I love Aberlour. I've owned bottles of the 10yo and the A'bunadh batch 36.
Ralfy you were lied to! I work in Sydney airport in the duty free store, each adult can bring in 2.25L. Also thanks for the shutout, its easy to be helpful when you only have one flight an hour, so you only really work 10 mins every hour.
never had a bad Aberlour, very good stuff always a great dram
Duty free still exists on the US-Canada borders. They have good deals and items that you won't see in any other stores. Great video Ralfy.
In the words of Xzibit: "Yo dawg, I heard you like taxes..."
Another of my favourite Distilleries, Great Review once more with some Fabulous Tips as usual, Certain Branches of Tesco, Not Online! Have apparently been selling, Aberlour, a'bunadh. For £31 in case you didn't know, sadly my Branch, Batley. Wasn't one of the stores selling it.
hi Ralfy,I enjoy so much watching your reviews.And I live in Down Under.The allowance of alcohol is 2.25litres ,regardless of strength.Just saying...Cheers,mate
This kind of thing is not necessarily my vein of UA-cam entertainment, but I have to say you are remarkably entertaining and informative. I hope to find myself in a pub one day having a conversation with the likes of yourself!
Agree completely about "travel retail" staff. I recall on more than one occasion the whisky staff offering to open a bottle or 2 for me to sample without me even asking.
Ralfy, I just wanted to let you know that I discovered your channel back in December of last year, and though I am not nearly the experienced, knowledgeable, and well spoken enthusiast of single malts like your self, I do enjoy a nice glass every once in a while. I dont indulge in a glass of scotch whiskey very often, but I do love me some cigars, and I enjoy nothing more than not watching your videos immediately, but rather later when I can get outside with a favorite (or new) cigar and listen to everything you've got to say. I love to hear your breakdowns of the flavors, characteristics, and histories of the whiskeys you review, and whatever politics may be involved with the distilleries they come from. I would love to add that I also enjoy whatever else it is you'd like to add. Whether its advice on purchasing a whiskey, a story of a past experience, or just how you like to go about life with whiskey as a ( for lack of better words) randomly appearing sidekick. You always have something interesting and informative to say without losing track of the spirit next you, making it clear to enjoy the whiskey being reviewed, or to just enjoy what we have in life other than a fine whiskey. Thanks for the great videos! I look forward to viewing each one. Cheers!
TrustyBucket . . . happy to help with the malt=moments !
Great channel and love your reviews all the way from New Zealand. Love you to give a big shout to all the 'Maori Malt Mates' in New Zealand. P.S if you think flying to Perth is bad, try flying to Auckland via Sydney or Melbourne. You need a good drink after that trip.
From New Zealand we can take 2 bottles of spirits into Australia up to a maximum of 2 litres. Maybe things have changed since you were last there Ralfy. Or maybe it is different depending on where you are coming from.
Dear ralfy: thanks a lot for magistral classes!
Awesome vlog Ralfy,,thanks for sharing.If I could recommend what I think is a stunning dram its the Kavalan sherry wood,,,absolutely delish..cheers to the aqua vitea.
That's an interesting fact! It's still called Duty Free in all the places in North America (that I have been to)
And the prices are sometimes phenomenal!! 3/8L of chivas? $16 1L of Johnnie Walker? $35
Single malts on the other hand, are almost all NAS or glenlivet
Ralfy you can bring up to 2.25L of spirits into Australia, must have changed the rules since you travelled here. There is a (stupid) rule though where you can only carry-on alcohol if it's purchased from your last stopover, and even then it must be sealed in a bag and carried to the gate by the duty free staff. Otherwise it must be in your checked luggage underneath. The USA has the same rule for carry-on I believe.
Tim TheWhiskyNut . . . simply obsessive regulation ! I travelled a few years back but was unaware of any recent changes though I did ask around !
www.syddutyfree.com/15-allowances-on-return-to-australia
I used to get my bottles of whisky exclusively from airport Duty Frees. That was back in time when Israel had 200% + tax on spirits. (Now I prefer to buy locally where prices are coming down and variety is going up). I had a list of friends who fly on business in and out of Israel and would ask them to get me those 1 Litre bottles. I began to build up a good picture of Duty Frees around the world. The shops are split into two departments - those buying within Europe (Travel Retail) and those buying to take out of Europe (Duty Free). I have a list of bookmarks in my browser for all the Duty Free Internet sites that my friends frequent and would browse through them and send my request to the friend.
I was always excited when someone was flying out of Manchester, Heathrow, Gatwick or Stansted as they have specialist whisky shops in the Duty Free lounge and the stock is always more varied than the airports in the rest of Europe with lots of interesting stuff. Luton however has no specialist whisky shop and pickings are lean- a pity as more and more of my friends started using this airport because it offered the cheapest flights.
Nowadays though, I find the variety and prices in even these airport specialist stores to be disappointing with a few exceptions. When I am in the UK I prefer to spend my whisky money in "real" specialist whisky shops in the UK buying something really special which I would not be able to get in Israel.
Airports in Western and Eastern Europe tend to have almost exactly the same stock but at varied prices. (They all use the same Internet sites though). There was a time when you could get your standard quality drams but in 1 Litre bottles. Then the No Age Statement with the fancy name bottlings began to take off (excuse the pun), offering young immature whisky at “high altitude” prices. A classic example: the wonderful 1 Litre Laphroaig 10 YO which a few years ago you could get everywhere, disappeared and was replaced by first, the Quarter Cask and later by the QA cask. Similarly is the “Master Distiller’s” editions - also NAS with high price tag. The wonderful “The Glenlivet Nadurra 16 Year Old) is now replaced by the Nadurra Olorosso No Age Satement. Same goes for the Bowmores and Taliskers - Now ALL NAS. The Caol Ila 12 YO has completely disappeared from Duty Frees as well.
There are still a few good whiskies to be found in 1 Litre bottles at the airport like Glenmorangie 10 YO, Ardbeg 10 YO, Scapa 16 YO, the Glen Grants 10, and 16 YO and the standard Glenlivets with Year statements, , You can still get Laphroaig 10 in Asia and Tomintoul 10, 14 and 16 from Cyprus airport which also has a specialist whisky shop.
I've bought this yesterday for 33 EUR, and I look forward to the experience. The basic Aberlour is pleasant as is, I think this'll be a leap better.
How was it?
@@JohnDoe-ve6mf I've got about a third of the bottle left, it's a beautiful sherry bomb as advertised. An absolutely great value proposition. I concur with Ralfy's rating of 88.
Sip of Aberlour and wash down with a oyster just excellent ; ) thanks Rafly
thanks for the thoughts and like your review here. i have the aberlour 12 double cask matured.
I'm posting in September 2019 and can't find this product anywhere. Every outlet including the airports only carries the 40% version. There is a new travel retail product called Aberlour Casg Annamh which is 48% but unfortunately NAS. While I'm at it here are a few observations on airport whisky shopping.
The best airport is Frankfurt with both a huge selection and genuine duty free prices. Second best is Sydney where you can buy at duty free prices both on the way in and out. That is convenient for anyone coming from USA or UK. Third best is Dublin but only if you want Irish whiskey. Abu Dhabi is great for service but not prices. There will be a little man on duty all day handing out samples of something or other so act genuinely interested and you can usually squeeze a second dram out of him. USA airports are the worst with an astonishingly terrible selection and I have no idea why. Tequila lovers should take a look because they usually have Herradura or Don Julio on special. Both are great value for money at around $45. You can often be better off buying retail in USA, especially with bourbons, and putting the bottle in your checked bag on the way out. UK airports are second worst with a huge selection but at high prices. Only buy at a UK airport if you spot something not sold at your local shops.
Always look out for airport specials. Today Frankfurt has regular Aberlour 12 at a mere 47 euro/litre while Sydney has Ardbeg 10 for 43 pounds/litre.
Try the Aberlour double cask 12 year old. Very good stuff.
Shit
hehe great to see that my request from three weeks ago on another aberlour video has been reviewed by you already. still haven't opened my bottle of the non-chill filtered version yet though.
Hi Ralfy.
Thak you for your last review. Today I visited the local specialist whisky store and had a good conversation. I asked for a bottle that was overlooked and received its price tag some years ago. So I ended up with a bottle of 44 year-old oak matured spirit for 88 Euros! Obviously it was no whisky but an armagnac, that I bought without further online research.
My question is, if you know online tasting notes for armagnac? I didn't find anything helpful on the internet.
P.S. Made the same experience on airports and ferrys. Lots of no-age-statement bottles and not the best prices.
Was it the Celtic Whiskey Shop by any chance? :)
Slainte Mhath . . . there are very few Armagnac reviews around, I have done at least one, hope it a good event for you when you open the bottle!
Hey Ralfy, thanks for the video! I'd be interested to know how distillers or bottlers manage the alcohol by volume, how do they hit the percentage that they want and how do they keep very old whisky from losing too much of the alcohol by volume. Maybe in a next video? Cheers from Canada!
This sounds delicious and I'm going to have to pick it up! Thanks Ralfy!
I have been waiting for this one. Love the 18 Yr, a lot, and thought the standard 12 was good, but thin. Expected better stuff in this bottle.
Curious if you have tried the 2014 Unpeated 15 Caol Ila?
The honesty would make me buy this bottle, if I should find one in the shelves of the local alcohol monopoly...
This was exciting, I finally found a whisky here in the states that you reviewed, and I got to try it as you were giving your notes. Very interesting. The Aberlour's pretty good. The only other one I've gotten to try with you is McCarthy's Oregon Single Malt Whiskey, which I really enjoyed. =)
Hi Ralfy!
Would love to see what you think of Jameson's Black barrel select reserve!
Relatively new to the scene, one for tasting!
All the best from Ireland.
Hello Ralfy lad.
just got back from ye ol state store!
Our A12 was quite different than yours especially at a meager 40%AbV.
Had it once before and it was quite thin. Thought maybe they upped their game with 48% but no such deal!
Passed it by on those grounds &
opted for a very nice fruit tangy Tomatin12...for the price $27USD it was a no brainer. Its a rather nice jobbin single malt.
Any T12 reviews in the cooker?
Peace
A real sherry beast !!
I just noticed, Ralfy, that in review 358, you gave Aberlour 10 (the first whisky I fell in love with) a score of 88/100. I assume this is a matter of the 10 y/o being a great quality single malt AND a fantastic value. The 12 year non-chill filtered costs a bit more, but balances the cost with an appropriate increase in flavour and lack of chill-filtration. Is this why the scores are the same? Just curious.
- Sincerely, your munifying malty mundificative
alpinebeergetithere . . . I just score as I find it !
Thank you.
Thank you Ralfy! Carroway! I was boggled.
Ralfy
Hey, if you get the opportunity, could you comment on Longmorn 16? No need for an entire review, just a word or two. My research indicated it was either 5 star or 1 star and seemingly nothingness thereafter, but I was in a local liquor establishment and saw the "packaging" (very nice), noticed it was 48% ABV, ON SALE, and on the label stated non-chill filtered. Tried it and was not my most favorite, but I, ME, found it to be excellent. Just would love to read or hear your expertise.
Mike
Maryland, USA
I had a bottle of this a year ago and I really enjoyed it. Interesting though how long it took for the bottle to open up and to reveal it's full potential , 2 months at least.
@@elijahfluw4347 It was and I will definetly give it another try. Springbank10 and Kilkerran12 are my favorite malts in the 40€ range though.
@@elijahfluw4347 you're welcome mate! 😉
hi ralfy! took me a few weeks to get internet access after I moved to a new house.
thank you for the malt mention and don´t worry about the delay. my wife margarete was really delightet as she also is kind of fan of ralfy.
got me a sample of aberlour 12y non chilled and I must say I was astonished by the quality of that one.
have you already tasted the newest batch of springbank 12 c.s.? wonder if I should buy a bottle.
glad it all worked out for you, and at the moment any Springbank cask 12yo is worth investing in.
Hi Ralfy!
I always have trouble comparing the travel retail versions of whisky with the "regular" stuff. For example the Macallan "Select Oak" and "Whisky Maker's Edition". What on earth is that supposed to mean anyway? (Question not aimed at you directly but spoken in general frustration!)
Also, on a whim I bought an Auchentoshan Heartwood in a combo deal with a Bowmore 10YO. The Bowmore is fine but the Auchentoshan is a real lemon. Absolutely horrible stuff. And I have a little under a liter left!!! aargh
Ralphy, thanks, very informative. Would you be able to review a bunnahabhain eirigh na greine?
Hi Ralfy, great review and great review series! I took you advice on specialist shops, coming from Belfast I didn't expect there to be many here, but a google search later and a few wine merchants popped up with a wide range of interesting whiskeys at good prices. Just was wondering though have you tried Nikka Whisky from the barrel?
Love the channel Ralfy. I've come across some bottles from an independent bottler called Lombard and their Jewels of Scotland series. They are in my local specialist shop here north of Boston. Have you tried them? Their main office is on The Isle of Man.
Brian Rybicki . . . not generally available in the British Isles !
Not chill filtering ADDING a creamy mouthfeel and ENHANCING the whisky sounds like newspeak to me. Not chill filtering a whisky means NOT REMOVING a creamy mouthfeel and NOT DEGRADING the whisky if you ask me.
Excellent review.
Ralfy! Just picked up a bottle of this today and thought I'd see what you had to say about it. Question for you--where do you taste your whiskeys? You always appear so warmly dressed in your videos. Cheers from Washington DC, over here in the colonies!
Thanks for the review! This scotch was a great buy for me.
this one is 30 eurocents cheaper than the normal 12 year old weirdly
also if you travel from Sweden to one other European country it is not allowed to buy whisky from duty free,it's crazy
Good stuff Ralfy~ Just curious, Have you reviewed the Aberlour A'bunadh yet?
He has. But won't anymore - no age statement, not worth buying or reviewing.
degmar That's a bit off. Not reviewable this calendar year. Still a good scotch and he still refers to it regularly.
Search his reviews. There are many good batches still available.
Brian DeSutter Quite right Brian. There are plenty of other examples as well. Ardbeg Uigeadail and Corryvreckan, Coal Ila Cask Strength, Longrow CV to name a few.
As a statement against the way things are going NAS is not reviewable this year.
You have to taste this 12yo Aberlour BEFORE you taste a 16yo Lagavulin. Because after that you can't feel anything else. I know I've tried it.
ralfy, please review the aberlour 12 yo double cask.
Hello Ralfy, is there a noticeable difference between the chill and non chill Aberlour? I've tasted some of the standards and I was disappointed most times. Nose was really great but taste was often flat and far away from rich and complexe. So, my hope is, that the higher ABV and the non chill will bring me this brand closer.
Always learn something useful with your reviews Ralfy. Your opinion has yet to steer me wrong. How did your magnifying glass get to be called a steam punker? Take care, Ossie
Ossie Weinert . . . it's in the style of the SteamPunk genre !
Hey Ralfy, What are your thoughts on A'bunadh batch 50?
in my top 5 of entry level Whiskies. not very expensive for the 48% alc.
Top 20!
I kno it varys Ralfy but r u awar of the mor common sherys (/winery's)
tht r used in sheried wiskys?
ala exampl of bourbons used = MakersMark 4 Laphraoig etc.
Thnx
Some how I want to say, " Don't let the bastards drag you down!"
I've brought whisky into Australia. It's fine so long as it's not opened.
I had a half full Bottle of Jameson's in my bag coming home from the US, nobody stopped me. I've kept the empty bottle on my shelf as a souvenir since it's a different style label/bottle and 50ml bigger than standard.
Hi Ralfy, my local bottle shop here in Australia sells the 40%abv Aberlour. They call it a "12 year old double cask" Assuming you haven't tried it and considering your comments about certain whiskys being weak if bottled at 40% do you think that this one would be one to avoid?
I bought this bottle at Costco in Hawaii, on vacation last November. It wasn't bad, but a bit generic tasting to me. I don't think I'd buy it again, but won't pass if offered.
they sell liquor in costco in hawaii? they don't do that in oregon
BananaBoat629 They sell liquor in California as well. I get Lagavulin 16yr for $55.
Ian Vickrey
I'm going to make your Laga taste even better: I'd have to pay 115$ for the same bottle.
We have Laga for 49 $ in some not very popular shops in Ukraine and it was distilled at 2012
Francis Ducharme Ouch!
Ralfy the Isle of Arran ...does that naming have anything to do with Moses brother Arran?
just curious.
PeatSmokey . . no connection.
PeatSmokey Mo's brother was called 'Aaron'.
Arran is the Anglicised version of Arainn, the Gaelic name of the island.
Funny story...One of my mates is a salesman working for a large Pharmaceutical company in Israel. He travels all over the world.
Visiting different places can be exciting and interesting but hanging around in the airport lounge waiting for your flight gets boring and tedious. He doesn’t care much for whisky so was more than happy to waste some time in the airport buying duty free bottles for me. So when anybody asked me where I got such a lot of whisky from I'd simply answer that I get it from our friendly local international drugs dealer...
Ralfy, could you review more of Edradour? Perhaps Straight from the Cask or smth else?
. . . yes !
If you had had to choose between this and the macallan 12 sherry cask, which would you go for? they're about the same price.
Ralfy, could you compare the Abelour 16 and 18 for us. Is the 18 worth the extra money?
why is the Aberlour 12yo only 40% ABV in Australia? +ralfystuff
The normal abelour 12 is 40%abv but this another version its 12 non chilfillterd so 48%
Hi Ralfy, will you review the J&b rare whisky? Im curious
if i were to buy my first aberlour should i go with the 10 first then work my way up as to familiarise myself with the style or could i jump in with this expression? im reasonably new to single malts and so prefer smoother stuff for the moment
How aboot this for a malt-mention? Hello all you magnificent malt-masticating malt-mate mavens!
Koaslice191 . . . mavens and masticating already malt-mentioned !
Have you tried Albelaur 16 yr single malt?
yeah pretty sure that's changed, 2.25L and includes definitely spirits. come to aus and do a whiskey night with ur aus fans
👌👍
I'm going to whisky-live saturday for the first time
any tips or things I should do? I have a normal entrance
eat well before hand and keep it quality not quantity, be prepared to bin any whisky you don't like !
ok thx! ;)
Greetings Ralfy. I just noticed something on the Aberlour website, which is similar to what I noticed on the Glenlivet website, a whisky missing on their "range" page. Have you noticed, Ralfy, that the Aberlour website is no longer including this whisky (the 12yo un-chilled @ 48% ABV) as part of the their range? Do you have any thoughts on what this might imply? I am coming to the conclusion that this fine whisky is being discontinued.
Andrew Jarrett . . . you may be right ! it's a sign of the times. Time will tell.
***** Thanks for the reply Ralfy. Once again, "sign of the times," and "writing on the wall." It will be a big disappointment if they (Aberlour) moves away from this expression, but it is up to us (the consumers) to act accordingly. I just picked up two bottles yesterday and will likely get more before they are more difficult to find.
I am looking forward to your next review. Cheers.
+Andrew Jarrett This expression was always punted as a limited edition....if sales were good you'd hope they'll do a repeat....
+Dan Sullivan Let's hope they repeat it and not only stick with NAS then.
+Andrew Jarrett The only 12yo bottling I can find readily now is the newer 43% expression, no mention of no chill filtering either. Sad.
Unchill filtered, but dark? Color added?
Rob in the 'Hood . . . I expect so !
Yup, I'm going for it - First! :)
This is the one I am tasting at home now.
cant find this aberlour in my country, but I can buy aberlour 12 y.o. double cask.can you tell my something about aberlour double cask 40 % ABV.thanks
. . . decent, check out reviews on whiskybase.com and at whiskyfun.com
same for me
fuckin have em ralf keep on ranting buddy !
Oh shoot I almost grabbed that one last night too instead I went Glenmorangie 12 Quinta ruban
GQR is a crack in dram my frend! Think u made the betr choice IMHO...Enjoy👍
Radio Laboratory yeah as an Islay drinker normally...GQR bout knocked my socks off...very pleasurable!
👍❤️🥃
Aberlour that's far I'm fae!
hi Ralfy, any chance of Edradour 10?
thanks:)
clappersox . . . cask edition, yes !
***** Thanks Ralfy:)
Ralfy. Great review as always. You malty libertarian Minarchist you. Lol. I could kiss you after this review. 👍🇺🇸
in korea, this is $100...
Australians commenting about recognizing "the absolutely unfair, insane and criminal import / duty rules" of Australia never ever imagined the abuse it is to import in Brazil. Its twice worse.
The same thing happens in Florida. If you reant a car, you end up paying tax on tax,
There is no justice, but there never was. You pay and you pay for what you pay. Go figure.
I mean, Ralfy, how can you say the kind of thing you say about flights???
There are 15000 km between UK and Australia. You can fly 7000km in a concorde at about 2000km/h. So if you refueled very quickly in the middle of your flight in a concorde you'll almost reach Australia but not quite in under 10 hours.
Unfortunately there is no concorde anymore.
Then what are you predicting? New planes take on the order of a decade to develop -that is, rather on the higher part of that range 20+ years. In 30 year you'll have maybe 1 or 2 really new planes out from Airbus and Boeing for public transportation. They will be certainly economically viable machines, not anything like a concorde, which was discontinued and does not fly anymore. So why would you predict we'll fly at 2000km/h over superlong distances in the near future when there's been no advance in technology that could be implemented in a plane? It's ok to live in your world, it's ok you post widely seen videos, but it'd be better if you made some efforts of keeping close to reality.
It's not an "opinion" you're giving by the way, it's a guess, or prediction, which cannot happen or has already happened (for small, specialized flights).
And thanks for the many good stuffs you say in this and other videos. Some things you say are just a little shocking, to me and many I guess.
First!!!!!!
Ezra Meijer . . . verified first !