Alcohol volume

[Alexppp]

I recently got myself a bottle of the 10 year-old Aberlour from duty free. I was surprised to notice that its strength is 43% ABV, whereas on The Whisky Exchange and other websites it says it's 40%. Could that be a misprint (in either the bottle or the website) or did I get some slightly different version without realising?

The same goes for the Balvenie Doublewood - again my bottle says 43% but websites etc. say 40%.

[Grant M]

The Aberlour 10 that you got, is it the standard Aberlour 10 which is bottled at 40% or the new Aberlour 10 SCF (Sherry Cask Finish) which is bottled at 43%, the SCF comes in a silver tube and has a silver foil seal.

Not sure about the Balvenie Doublewood i thought there is only a 40% version, perhaps they have changed it or it is exclusice to travel retail, is it a 1 litre bottle or 70cl.

[Alexppp]

I got the standard Aberlour 10, which I also thought was supposed to be bottled at 40%. Both this and the Balvenie are 1 litre bottles. So do you think that they're bottled at 43% just for travel retail? Seems a bit strange to me - I'm not complaining of course, just wondering why they'd make them so slightly different.

[Blackadder]

I know standard bottles can vary from country to country, in fact i have seen standard 70cl bottles of Aberlour in the past in europe which were bottled at 43%.

When it comes to "GTA" Global Travel Retail i think there is only one version of each whisky worldwide but i may be wrong. I would guess the GTA version would always be in line with the highest ABV version no matter which country in the world it is available in. Imagine you were used to the 43% version of a whisky and picked a 40% version up from duty free without noticing, you would not be happy.

Funny that you mention this, it was just recently i noticed the 1 litre travel retail bottle of Balvenie Doublewood was bottled at 43%.

Hope you enjoy them both Alex, I am sure the extra % will add to you enjoyment.

[Braden]

I probably wouldnt have noticed the difference in ABV, i shall watch out for it next next time i travel.

[Gavin]

I certainly didnt notice that the duty free litre bottle of balvenie dw was a higher abv, i just checked a bottle i got earlier this year which isnt opened yet and it is the 43% version.

[Alexppp]

Thanks for the info Blackadder, that certainly makes sense. So far I've only opened the Aberlour, and my impressions were a bit mixed - I found it to be a bit unrefined, certainly given that I expected a really smooth, sweet drink from what I'd heard. Not sure if it's the extra alcohol % or just my imagination but it has a bit more of a kick than I would expect from a relatively 'gentle' drink. Not bad but that burn didn't altogether fit the taste if that makes any sense. I also thought it wasn't that individual, unlike the other bottles I currently have. I'd recognise a Glenmorangie because of that unmistakeable vanilla sweetness for example, or a Talisker because, well, it's a Talisker, but I'm not sure I could tell Aberlour apart.

Having said all that, it doesn't mean I won't keep drinking it! Looking forward to opening my other bottles - that Balvenie and a Glenlivet 12 First Fill.

[Blackadder]

I would be interested in what you think of the Glenlivet First Fill when you open it, as it is a duty free exclusive bottling.

[Alexppp]

I noticed there's a thread for the Glenlivet First Fill, so I'll post my impressions there when I get around to opening it. One thing I would say now is that for some reason they made the bottle almost exactly identical to the regular 12 year-old. It makes marketing sense of course, since it's a famous brand and a famous bottle, but I imagine it would be pretty easy to pick one up by mistake, especially if you're in a hurry at the airport.

[Blackadder]

[Alexppp]

Interesting - does he rate it higher than the standard Glenlivet 12?

[Blackadder]

He rates the standard 12 at 83/100

What Jim Murray says about the Glenlivet 12 First Fill:

[Alexppp]

Interesting - I should probably wait until I finish one of my open bottles before opening it, but I'm not sure whether I'll be able to resist the temptation!

[Bookie]

[Alexppp]