Head to head · unusually close flavour match
Aberlour A'bunadh vs The Macallan Sherry Oak 18 Years Old (2025 Release)
No flavour axis separates them, so the difference on record is disclosure: The Macallan Sherry Oak 18 Years Old (2025 Release) states 18 years, Aberlour A'bunadh states no age.
Compiled by WhiskeyCask Editorial · Last verified 2026-07-30
Specifications side by side
| Aberlour A'bunadh | The Macallan Sherry Oak 18 Years Old (2025 Release) | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Single malt | Single malt |
| Origin | Speyside, Scotland | Speyside, Scotland |
| Age | No age statement | 18 years |
| Strength | Not published | 43% ABV |
| Cask | Oloroso sherry butt | Sherry-seasoned European oak |
| Bottle | 700 ml | 700 ml |
| RRP observed | £70 | £340 |
| Per 10cl | £10 | £49 |
| Per litre of alcohol | — | £1130 |
| Chill-filtered | Not stated | Not stated |
What separates them
Both Speyside whiskies, from different distilleries.
The Macallan Sherry Oak 18 Years Old (2025 Release) states 18 years; Aberlour A'bunadh states none.
Cask as each producer describes it: Aberlour A'bunadh in oloroso sherry butt, The Macallan Sherry Oak 18 Years Old (2025 Release) in sherry-seasoned european oak.
Neither states chill filtration.
Colour: Aberlour A'bunadh silent, The Macallan Sherry Oak 18 Years Old (2025 Release) natural colour.
What the price buys
The Macallan Sherry Oak 18 Years Old (2025 Release) is £270 dearer a bottle than Aberlour A'bunadh.
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 | The Macallan Sherry Oak 18 Years Old (2025 Release) |
|---|---|---|
| Peaty | 0 | 0 |
| Sweet | 8 | 7 |
| Fruity | 7 | 6 |
| Spicy | 6 | 5 |
| Woody | 6 | 7 |
| Sherried | 9 | 9 |
| Cereal | 5 | 4 |
| Oily | 9 | 8 |
No axis reaches the 3-point gap we call meaningful. Widest is sweet, 8 against 7.
Identical on peaty and sherried.
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 →The Macallan Sherry Oak 18 Years Old (2025 Release)
Dense dried fruit, clove and old leather. Magnificent, and priced accordingly.
Sold as a dated annual release, not a continuous bottling — Macallan catalogues 2018, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025 as separate products, so the spec must be re-checked per release.
Full record →No overlap in what we list them for: Aberlour A'bunadh for cask strength and sherry bombs, The Macallan Sherry Oak 18 Years Old (2025 Release) for occasion bottle and sherry-cask benchmark.
Where these specifications come from
Producer and retailer pages for Aberlour A'bunadh and The Macallan Sherry Oak 18 Years Old (2025 Release): aberlour.com, themacallan.com. Figures are what those pages published when we last checked them, on 2026-07-30.