Head to head · unusually close flavour match
Aberlour A'bunadh vs Redbreast 12 Year Old
One axis separates these two: sherried, 9 against 6.
Compiled by WhiskeyCask Editorial · Last verified 2026-07-30
Specifications side by side
| Aberlour A'bunadh | Redbreast 12 Year Old | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Single malt | Single pot still |
| Origin | Speyside, Scotland | Ireland |
| Age | No age statement | 12 years |
| Strength | Not published | 40% ABV |
| Cask | Oloroso sherry butt | Ex-bourbon, Oloroso sherry |
| Bottle | 700 ml | 700 ml |
| RRP observed | £70 | £55 |
| Per 10cl | £10 | £7.86 |
| Per litre of alcohol | — | £196 |
| Chill-filtered | Not stated | Not stated |
What separates them
Different countries: Aberlour A'bunadh from Speyside, Scotland, Redbreast 12 Year Old from Ireland.
Aberlour A'bunadh is a single malt, Redbreast 12 Year Old a single pot still.
Redbreast 12 Year Old states 12 years; Aberlour A'bunadh states none.
Cask as each producer describes it: Aberlour A'bunadh in oloroso sherry butt, Redbreast 12 Year Old in ex-bourbon and oloroso sherry.
Neither states chill filtration.
Redbreast 12 Year Old: specifications not yet producer-confirmed.
What the price buys
Aberlour A'bunadh is £15 dearer a bottle than Redbreast 12 Year Old.
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 | Redbreast 12 Year Old |
|---|---|---|
| Peaty | 0 | 0 |
| Sweet | 8 | 6 |
| Fruity | 7 | 7 |
| Spicy | 6 | 5 |
| Woody | 6 | 5 |
| Sherried | 9 | 6 |
| Cereal | 5 | 7 |
| Oily | 9 | 7 |
That is the only axis of the eight to reach 3 points. Next widest is sweet, 8 against 6.
Identical on peaty and fruity.
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 →Redbreast 12 Year Old
Thick, oily pot-still spice with sherried fruit. The style Ireland nearly lost.
Single pot still requires a mash of both malted and unmalted barley — an Irish style that came close to extinction.
Full record →No overlap in what we list them for: Aberlour A'bunadh for cask strength and sherry bombs, Redbreast 12 Year Old for something different and after dinner.
Where these specifications come from
Producer and retailer pages for Aberlour A'bunadh and Redbreast 12 Year Old: aberlour.com, redbreastwhiskey.com. Figures are what those pages published when we last checked them, on 2026-07-30.