Confession time – I’ve always had a complicated relationship with Scotch Whisky. Call me new fashioned, but I’ve too often found Scotch to be overwhelming in a way that quickly burns out my palate and have had some difficulty really adjusting to and picking out specific notes and aromas during past tastings. It’s something I’ve found challenging yet strangely invigorating as I’ve tasted, reviewed, and built my interest in Scotch, honing my preferences to understand exactly what I like about the spirit.  

For this review, I wanted to feature two of my favorites of the past year, both under the John Dewar & Sons LTD banner, and both with their own unique flavor profiles but equally drinkable and smooth. I realized that I need a Scotch that isn’t drowning in smoke but has a leathery and smooth balance that simply coats the palate without smothering it. I found what I was looking for in ABERFELDY 21-Year-Old Malbec Cask Finish and Dewar’s 19-Year-Old “The Champion’s 124th Edition” Rye Cask Finish.

ABERFELDY Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky is a favored name in Scotch, with the Aberfeldy Distillery opened in 1898 and located in the foothills of Centrals Highlands of Scotland. Utilizing water sourced from The Pitilie Burn, a pool of fresh water containing alluvial gold. The ABERFELDY 21-Year- Malbec Cask Finish is as smooth as it comes, distilled in November of 2001 and matured in a combination of re-fill barrels and hogsheads, then finished for around 8 months in Argentinian Malbec French Oak wine casks.

This whisky is the most recent release from the Wine Cask Collection, with past expressions including finishes in a Cadillac White Wine Cask, Napa Valley Red Wine Cask, and others that I’m intrigued to try. The whisky is one of the best and most flavorful I’ve tasted, offering a multitude of complex and complimentary notes in both the nose and on the palate.

Only slightly less pleasurable is Dewar’s 19-Year-Old – The Champion’s Edition (purchase here). Crafted in partnership with the 124^th Golf U.S. Open Championship, this is the fourth year of Dewar’s being the official Scotch whisky of the tournament. The whisky is double aged – a Dewar’s signature method – and extra-matured in Rye Casks. I love Rye, so will credit both the extra maturation as well as five-time Master Blender of the Year Stephanie Macleod’s expertise to my love of this expression.

**Tasting Notes for both below**

ABERFELDY 21-Year-Old Malbec Cask Finish

Bottled at 46% ABV, non-chill filtered with natural color. SRP $279.99.

Aesthetic:

Mellow yellow with flecks of rose.

Nose:

Leather strap and mulch – aromas of a ranch in the sun, with light honey and citrusy clementine.

Palate:

There’s the most interesting skunk in this whisky, right off the bat a kind of cannabis waft over the front of the palate. Then midway through it opened to blueberry, sea salt, and dark cocoa. Incredibly smooth and mellow, there’s little of the classic Scotch flavors but still distinctly settled into its own rhythm of warmth and heat.

Rating: 🥃 🥃 🥃 🥃.5/5

Dewar’s 19-Year-Old – The Champion’s Edition

Aesthetic:

Pale yellow with short, rapidly moving legs.

Nose:

Well-rounded aromas of lemon, honey, and pear.

Palate:

This baby is smooth with a soft mouthfeel and the faintest note of bitter root, cocoa, almond skin, lemon zest, and the faintest bits of spice cultivated from the rye cask.

Rating: 🥃 🥃 🥃 🥃/5

**This whiskey was provided as a review sample by those who created and released it. My reviews are my own, and I tell it how I taste it.**