Aberfeldy whisky

Aberfeldy is a Highland distillery in Perthshire, built by John Dewar’s sons to make malt for their Dewar’s blends. It dates itself from 1898, when production began, draws its water from the Pitilie Burn and has belonged to Bacardi since 1998, according to the distillery’s history. This page lists the Aberfeldy bottles we track with the best current UK price, from the 12 Year Old to the 21 Year Old and wine-cask editions.

For the distillery history, see Aberfeldy on Whiskipedia. Prices are the best current in-stock offer from the UK retailers we check (how we compare prices).

Aberfeldy and Dewar’s

• Built for a blend: John Dewar, born in 1805 in Dull near Aberfeldy, founded the business; his sons built the distillery, which began production in 1898 (Aberfeldy). Whiskipedia records the land being bought in 1896, the year in this page’s data panel.
• Ownership: the distillery passed to the Distillers Company (DCL) in 1925 with John Dewar & Sons, and Bacardi bought the Dewar’s business in 1998.
• Size: in 1972 the site doubled in capacity to its present size, the distillery says.
• A single malt in its own right: Dewar’s World of Whisky, as the visitor centre was then named, opened in 2000, the same year Aberfeldy 12 Year Old was released as a single malt; the range was repackaged in 2014 with a permanent aged line-up.

A visit to Aberfeldy

Our notes from an earlier visit do not record the year, so treat this as a past impression rather than a guide to today’s tours. The visit began with a short film, which was atmospheric but mainly advertising, and a self-guided exhibition telling John Dewar’s story: how he set up with a small shop and began blending whiskies from different casks to sell under his own name. The old Dewar’s adverts were entertaining, though we were a little disappointed that the posters and photos were reproductions rather than originals. A blending game and a nosing wheel of typical aromas ended the exhibition.

On the guided tour the distillery felt surprisingly small and easy to take in. The stillhouse was the highlight: the copper stills stood in front of a wall of windows, open for cooling while we were there, with a view of the countryside. The old warehouse we saw was fitted out for show, with clean casks and neatly painted names.

Aberfeldy 12 Year Old

Current price: £34.95 at Hard To Find Whisky.

The whisky: the 12 Year Old is bottled at 40% ABV and matured in a combination of sherry, bourbon, refill and re-charred casks (Aberfeldy).

What we like: we compare it to a summer orchard: ripe pears, apples and quinces. Mid-palate, light milk caramel meets cereal notes, and a cheesecake with grated lemon zest adds a touch of acidity to balance the mostly sweet notes.

Aberfeldy 16 Year Old

The whisky: the 16 Year Old is bottled at 40% ABV, matured in bourbon casks and finished for six months in first-fill oloroso sherry casks (Aberfeldy). This page has no current UK price for the standard 16 Year Old; our catalogue lists only a limited-edition label of it.

What we like: soft in character and mild in flavour. We found pear tart with whipped cream, creamy honey, fresh apricots and lightly bitter orange marmalade. The rounded finish brings gentle, spicy oak.

Aberfeldy 21 Year Old

Current price: £160.95 at Master of Malt.

The whisky: the 21 Year Old is bottled at 40% ABV and matured in a mix of sherry, bourbon, refill and re-charred casks (Aberfeldy).

What we like: soft and rounded. We found vanilla cream, apricots, pears and white grapes, with honeydew melon, almond cake and light nougat. Broad oak hints at the malt’s age and contrasts with the sweet notes.

Older releases

Aberfeldy 18 Year Old Côte Rôtie was a limited edition released in September 2021, the third in Aberfeldy’s French red wine cask series: an 18 year old finished in casks from the Côte-Rôtie appellation in the northern Rhône and bottled at 43% ABV (Whisky Magazine). It is not part of the current range, so this page shows no price for it. We found a full-bodied malt whose prickly mouthfeel and fruity, spicy flavours recall dry red wine: dried blackberries and cherries with herbal forest honey, turning drier mid-palate with lemon peel and white pepper, and a long, dry finish of spicy oak and cinnamon.

Sources and review