Spirit Of The Week: Aberfeldy 21 Year Old Highland Malbec Cask Finish Whisky

The Highland Scotch distillery collaborates with Argentinian vintner Finca Abrosia for a new Wine Cask finish whisky.

Nicolas Stecher

Jul 12, 2024

After joining John Dewar & Sons in 1998, and studying for three solid years under then-Master Blender Tom Aitken, Stephanie Macleod ascended to become Dewar’s seventh Master Blender in 2006. This meant Macleod was now Malt Master for their entire single-malt whisky range, which includes renowned distilleries including Aberfeldy, Aultmore, Craigellachie, Macduff and Royal Brackla.

Of them all, she notes a special connection with Aberfeldy, as not only does she count family in the area, but the heritage label—founded in 1896 as the only distillery actually built by the Dewar family—also happens to be her father’s favorite.

“One of the most rewarding parts of my role is extending the distillery’s heritage to a new generation of whisky drinkers, and ensuring that the brand’s legacy lives on,” says Macleod. The Malt Master notes the importance of terroir in single malts and insists one could not create whisky exactly like theirs in any other location except for the town of Aberfeldy.

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“The place where it’s distilled and how it’s distilled makes a huge impact on its character,” stresses Macleod, underscoring the Highland distillery’s unique location in the geographical heart of Scotland, where Perthshire’s tallest mountain, deepest loch and longest glen all meet. She points out that Aberfeldy’s water source, the Pitilie Burn (aka “the pool of the water god”) springing from the River Tay, runs directly past the distillery.

While heritage is key for such an aged and distinguished distillery, so is evolution. For while Aberfeldy distills some delicious single malt, thought and creativity are a must to separate oneself from their peers. “In my role I am able to honor our heritage by building on all the great advancements that came before me,” says the accomplished Malt Master, sharing a Gustav Mahler quote she swears by: Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire. “The fire needs to be continually fed to be preserved,” she continues. “We continue to push progress, creating beautiful liquids that get our whisky lovers excited about what we might create next.”

Which brings us to the Highland distillery’s latest in their ongoing Wine Cask collection: Aberfeldy 21 Year Old Malbec Cask Finish. Launched in 2019 with Aberfeldy 15 Year Old Pomerol Wine Cask Finish, there have now been eight more bottles in the series—initially only using red wine casks and then expanding into white wines, including last year’s Cadillac White Wine Cask Finish.

Their latest starts with Aberfeldy’s superb 21-year-old single malt, distilled in 2001 and matured for over two decades in sherry and bourbon barrels and hogsheads. Thanks to an organic relationship with Finca Ambrosia—introduced by a local who happens to know the owners—Aberfeldy selected 50 of the Argentinian vintner’s French oak wine casks to age their whisky in. Located in Gualtallary in Argentina’s high-altitude Uco Valley, the Finca Ambrosia’s flagship grape, Viña Unica Malbec, was handpicked as the wine of choice for the second maturation.

A true collaboration between two wine- and spirit-loving enthusiasts, Malt Master Macleod and Finca Ambrosia’s Daniel Pi, the whisky was sampled monthly until it reached perfection in both color and flavor. The journey required about eight months in the malbec French Oak casks.

Macleod reveals the malbec casks added blackberry, plum and cherry notes to the Aberfeldy single malt, as well as sweet, toasted cereal aromas with hints of sage and rosemary, which evolve into ripe strawberries with Highland honey. “Floral touches of rose and violet, alongside nuances of cocoa, leather, and sweet tobacco spice, lead to a creamy vanilla and an endlessly smooth finish,” she continues.

“The sweet Cadillac wine casks show off the distinct flavor intricacies of white wine with more yellow fruits, which lend to a bright floral note rather than rich notes caused by deeper berry tones found in the Finca Ambrosia cask,” says Macleod, contrasting how finishing in a white wine versus red wine cask is one of the most salient differences a true whisky aficionado should notice. “It’s a beautifully soft and subtle whisky.”