Head to head · same category, comparable price
Aberlour A'bunadh vs Laphroaig Quarter Cask
They diverge on 4 of our eight axes, most of all peaty, 0 against 9.
Compiled by WhiskeyCask Editorial · Last verified 2026-07-30
Specifications side by side
| Aberlour A'bunadh | Laphroaig Quarter Cask | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Single malt | Single malt |
| Origin | Speyside, Scotland | Islay, Scotland |
| Age | No age statement | No age statement |
| Strength | Not published | 48% ABV |
| Cask | Oloroso sherry butt | Ex-bourbon barrel, American oak quarter cask |
| Bottle | 700 ml | 700 ml |
| RRP observed | £70 | £44 |
| Per 10cl | £10 | £6.29 |
| Per litre of alcohol | — | £131 |
| Chill-filtered | Not stated | Not stated |
What separates them
Both from Scotland: Aberlour A'bunadh from Speyside, Laphroaig Quarter Cask from Islay.
Neither carries an age statement, so neither discloses its youngest spirit.
Cask as each producer describes it: Aberlour A'bunadh in oloroso sherry butt, Laphroaig Quarter Cask in ex-bourbon barrel and american oak quarter cask.
Neither states chill filtration.
Laphroaig Quarter Cask: specifications not yet producer-confirmed.
What the price buys
Aberlour A'bunadh is £26 dearer a bottle than Laphroaig Quarter Cask.
Aberlour A'bunadh publishes no strength, so we will not cost it per litre of alcohol.
Flavour, compared
View as table
| Axis | Aberlour A'bunadh | Laphroaig Quarter Cask |
|---|---|---|
| Peaty | 0 | 9 |
| Sweet | 8 | 4 |
| Fruity | 7 | 3 |
| Spicy | 6 | 6 |
| Woody | 6 | 6 |
| Sherried | 9 | 1 |
| Cereal | 5 | 4 |
| Oily | 9 | 8 |
4 of the eight axes clear 3 points; after peaty comes sherried at 9 against 1, sweet at 8 against 4 and fruity at 7 against 3.
Identical on spicy and woody.
Each bottle in its own right
Aberlour A'bunadh
Enormous sherried fruit at cask strength. Batch to batch it moves, which is the point.
We publish no ABV because there isn't one: A'bunadh is released in sequential batches, each bottled at its own cask strength, and Aberlour states only 'cask strength' with no number. Any single ABV you see quoted for it is batch-specific. A'bunadh means 'the original' in Gaelic.
Full record →Laphroaig Quarter Cask
Laphroaig with the volume up — more oak, more sweetness, considerably more grip at 48%.
Double matured: standard ex-bourbon barrels, then re-racked into smaller quarter casks whose greater wood-to-spirit surface area speeds maturation. Laphroaig publishes no ABV, and one UK retailer lists 41.4% — that is a data error; 48% is confirmed by two independent retailers.
Full record →No overlap in what we list them for: Aberlour A'bunadh for cask strength and sherry bombs, Laphroaig Quarter Cask for value at 48% and peat lovers.
Where these specifications come from
Producer and retailer pages for Aberlour A'bunadh and Laphroaig Quarter Cask: aberlour.com, laphroaig.com. Figures are what those pages published when we last checked them, on 2026-07-30.