Aber Falls Single Malt Welsh Whisky 70 cl

Product Information

Aber Falls began distilling in January 2018. The distillery is located in a beautiful part of North Wales located just south of Abergwyngregyn between the A55 and the Menai Strait. Earlier this year, parent company Halewood caused waves in the whisky world when it signed Dr Kirstie McCallum as its master blender earlier. She had only just joined Glen Moray in 2019 from Distell which owned Bunnahabhain, Deanston and Tobermory, but seemingly relished the challenge of joining a company where there was everything to play for. Halewood has many booze pies (mmmmm, booze pies) including the Crabbie’s single malt distillery in Edinburgh which is yet to release its inaugural whisky – more on that later this week.

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Aber Falls Inaugural Details

The 2021 expression was distilled in a mix of copper pot and stainless-steel stills and includes a mix of Oloroso sherry casks, PX sherry casks, Bourbon casks and Virgin Oak casks for a totally unique flavour. Deep amber gold in colour, this Single Malt gives an aroma of sweet fruits with a hint of clove and delivers a rich and full-bodied palate, with sweet sherry notes, dark chocolate and espresso. It stimulates a long and lingering finish of dried fruit and subtle spice. Without prejudice to the section Liability below, the Service may be temporarily unavailable during maintenance, updates, etc. We shall make reasonable efforts to inform you of any unavailability due to maintenance or updates. You are responsible for all activities through your account. You are responsible for the accuracy of the information you provide to us in relation to your account, and for updating it where necessary. You are not allowed to create multiple accounts. We may terminate or temporarily suspend your account to protect you, ourselves or our partners from (suspected) identity theft or other (suspected) fraudulent (e.g. false, misleading, deceptive) activity. You have the obligation to keep your login credentials confidential. You shall not authorize any others to use or access your account. I find it a little too bitter and oaky in the middle of the development on the palate, possibly due to the virgin oak casks. I would rather it was reined in a bit. The finish is a little short too. Having said that: there are some nice fruity flavours, which along with the cream and spice works very well. Unless mandatory applicable law provides otherwise, your use of and membership to the Service are exclusively governed by Dutch law. We shall first try to settle any dispute over a dram of whisky. Disputes that cannot be settled over multiple drams of whisky shall be solely submitted to the court of Amsterdam, The Netherlands unless mandatory applicable law provides otherwise.

We may, but are not under any obligation, to release new functionalities and tools or other features for the Service every now and then. Any new functionalities, tools and features shall be part of and governed by the Terms from the moment they are launched and/or available. Further, we reserve the right to modify, change, discontinue the Service, add or remove features, update the Service, change its appearance, temporarily and permanently, at any time, in whole or any part thereof. I am constantly conflicted, and even hypocritical at times when it comes to young whisky. I still believe there is no substitute for a longer maturation in quality casks, and I will maintain that stance… but then, something like this comes along and makes me think again. The selection of casks and the use of virgin wood has helped make a really flavourful whisky in a short space of time. I have been impressed with a number of young releases from new distilleries; this is another one. With an abundance of newcomers releasing their first whiskies in recent years, it is important to stand out or risk being left behind. The Autumn 2021 release from Aber Falls is a combination of Oloroso, PX, Bourbon, and Virgin Oak casks. Having only started distilling at the beginning of 2018, we can be certain this is a 3-year-old whisky. Aber Falls Autumn 2021 Release – Review

Conclusions

MD James Wright, who has been with the distillery since it was founded, added: “We are thrilled to release our 2021 Welsh Single Malt whisky, following the successful inaugural release earlier in the year, which saw 2,000 bottles sell out in just 40 minutes! We’re a distillery that proudly produces 100% Welsh whisky, capturing the Welsh craft and heritage in every bottle. As a result, our products are extremely sustainable, enabling us to benefit Wales at every stage of production, including returning any waste ingredients to local farms for use as fertiliser or cattle feed”. I have noticed a few people on social media have reservations about Aber Falls based on some of those whiskies, particularly The Pogues and Peaky Blinder, which appear to sell themselves based on the name of an Irish Celtic punk band, and a popular TV show, rather than the quality of the contents. However, it is important to realise that these whiskies don’t target the enthusiast market, and their success has enabled Halewood to spend millions creating this distillery. They have also opened a distillery in Edinburgh, which will produce single malt for the John Crabbie & Co brand. With Aber Falls releasing whisky, there’s now something of a Welsh whisky scene alongside Penderyn’s Brecon Beacons distillery which was founded in 2000. Penderyn is now expanding with an outpost in Llandudno open and one in the pipeline in Swansea. Meanwhile we were fortunate enough to try some very promising new make from the In the Welsh Wind distillery in Cardigan Bay in South Wales. Let’s hope it follows the Aber Falls model of good whisky and reasonable prices. We may sell, license, transfer, assign or in any other way dispose of the Service (including Members) to any third party without any notification to you, e.g. (but without limitation) in connection with any reorganization, restructuring, merger or sale, or other transfer of assets. The first release from Aber Falls distillery sold out in 40 minutes. Thankfully, the second batch is now here, and even better, it’s very reasonably priced which is why Aber Falls Single Malt Autumn 2021 release is our New Arrival of the Week.

Dr Kirstie McCallum, Master Blender at Aber Falls, said: “The perfect whisky is made up of exceptional ingredients, ideal conditions and well considered casks made of top-quality wood. In particular, the two sherry casks used for this Single Malt have provided a very enjoyable flavour that we’re incredibly proud of.” McCallum commented on the Aber Falls 2021 release : “The perfect whisky is made up of exceptional ingredients, ideal conditions and well considered casks made of top-quality wood. In particular, the two sherry casks used for this single malt have provided a very enjoyable flavour that we’re incredibly proud of.” If we decide not to exercise or enforce any right or provision of these Terms, such decision shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. The Aber Falls set-up is an interesting one with a mixture of copper pot and stainless steel stills. The 2021 release was then matured in a mix of ex-Oloroso and PX sherry casks, ex-bourbon casks, and virgin oak casks, before diluting with local spring water and bottling at 40% ABV. It’s a little more conventional than the inaugural release which included ageing in orange wine casks – yes, wine made from oranges. Aber Falls whisky is now available and you can sample premium range of small batch, handcrafted gins and liqueurs the distillery has released so far - such as Aber Falls Salted Toffee Liqueur and Aber Falls Orange Marmalade Gin.

James Wright, Managing Director at Aber Falls Whisky Distillery, said: “We are thrilled to release a our 2021 Welsh Single Malt whisky, following the successful inaugural release earlier in the year, which saw 2,000 bottles sell out in just 40 minutes! We’re a distillery that proudly produces 100% Welsh whisky, capturing the Welsh craft and heritage in every bottle. As a result, our products are extremely sustainable, enabling us to benefit Wales at every stage of production, including returning any waste ingredients to local farms for use as fertiliser or cattle feed. This is a marriage of whiskies from American virgin oak, Spanish sherry, and orange wine casks. The orange wine is a particularly interesting addition, something which wouldn’t be allowed were it a Scotch whisky. It is bottled at 46% ABV, but there is no reference to whether it is non-chill filtered or with natural colour. If it is, then please label it as such! Aber Falls Inaugural Release – Review

On the nose: This is big. A rather powerful hit of sweet candied orange from those wine casks, as well as tropical passion fruit and mango in abundance. Rich toffee and butterscotch, along with raisins and dates. There’s a hint of coffee, grassy silage and a little rosemary.As well as retailing online, this latest release is being sold in selected Tesco supermarkets in Wales. With that in mind, I can understand what they have done here. If you want to break into the competitive supermarket space, you need to have a product that is priced accordingly, and 40% helps to achieve that. The striking bottle design will certainly attract plenty of casual supermarket whisky buyers, many of whom may be reluctant to move away from their usual purchasing habits. Aber Falls will be competing with established Scotch and Irish whisky brands such as Glen Moray, Tamnavulin, Jameson, Glenlivet and Old Pulteney, who all have bottles on the shelf at similar prices. There is competition from fellow Welsh producer Penderyn too, who are doing so well they are expanding from one to three distilleries. Aber Falls is located in a beautiful spot, with the north Wales coast one side, and the mountains of Snowdonia on the other. It is named after a stunning 120-foot waterfall a couple of miles from the distillery, the water from which passes directly past the distillery buildings on its way out to sea. This same water is used for their whisky, thanks to their own borehole. If you are of the opinion that water makes a difference to the whisky, then fresh water flowing from the Snowdonia mountains is a pretty good source to have. I was tempted to give this a six because of the great price, but – as I try them side by side – it’s even more obvious that this is not in the same league as the inaugural release, so I can’t put them just a single point apart. This latest bottle does have plenty of similarities in its DNA but feels like a light version of that first ever bottling. The cask make-up is along the same lines with the virgin oak and sherry casks, but there is no orange wine here, and perhaps the quantities have been adjusted somewhat, with fewer of those sherry casks used (I am guessing, based on what I am finding in the glass).