Aberfeldy Connoisseurs Choice 1996 17 años Single Malt Whisky

Aberfeldy's position in the single malt whisky world is increasingly challenged, yet it remains one of the world's leading blended whiskies—a crucial component in Dewar's, the best-selling Scotch whisky in the United States. The core range, White Label, includes 12, 15, and 18-year-old expressions. In spring 2019, Dewar's launched the Double Double blended whisky series. While each stage of the blending process employs the method first used by Dewar's inaugural Master Blender AJ Cameron in 1901, it innovatively combines four stages of blending. The Dewar's Double Double series comprises three expressions, aged from 21 to 32 years, utilizing three different types of sherry casks—Oloroso, Palo Cortado, and PX (Pedro Ximenez) casks. Aberfeldy distillery's production facilities include a 7.5-ton stainless steel full lauter mash tun, eight larch washbacks (two renewed in February 2019), and three stainless steel washbacks, with an average fermentation time of 70 hours, plus four stills. In 2014, an additional washback was installed, boosting capacity to 23 tons of mashed malt per week (operating seven days), translating to 3.4 million liters of new make spirit. The distillery owner also invested £1.2 million in a biomass boiler and is currently upgrading the wastewater treatment plant. Aberfeldy single malt has always been a vital component of Dewar's Scotch blends, but since its relaunch as a single malt in 2014, it has become one of the fastest-growing single malt brands in the duty-free channel. The distillery offers excellent visitor experiences, attracting over 40,000 guests last year. The Aberfeldy core range includes 12, 16, and 21-year-old expressions. An 18-year-old duty-free exclusive was replaced with 16 and 21-year versions, both finished in Madeira wine casks (EX-Bual and EX-Malvasia Malmsey casks respectively) for up to 12 months. The latest three duty-free limited editions belong to the Exceptional Cask series and are Asia-exclusive, including an 18-year-old port cask finish (2-year finish), a 33-year-old single cask, and a 1999 vintage.