Aultmore whisky

Only a very small percentage of all the malt whisky that is
produced at Aultmore was ever bottled as a single malt; most
of it is still makes it into the Dewar's blends like the widely
available 'White Label'. New owners Bacardi don't seem to be
in a hurry to change that long lived tradition. Well, based on
the bottlings I've sampled so far that might probably for the
best anyway; none of the single malts scored above average
(75 points), so why bother?  Well... Hold that thought...
 
It's actually quite interesting to see how certain malts that
are quite popular among blenders (like Aultmore, Benrinnes,
Glen Elgin, Glenlossie, Glenrothes, Longmorn, etc.) don't seem
to inspire a lot of passion in the average malt 'connoisseurs'.

Unfortunately, the 'fin de siecle' whisky boom ended not long after
Aultmore was constructed and the whisky production decreased
dramatically. As a result of the crisis Aultmore was closed for a few
years. Aultmore opened again around 1903/1904, but not for long.
Barley shortages during World War I forced the distillery to close
its doors again - just like most of its competitors, by the way.

Aultmore (Gaelic for 'big burn') was named after a nearby river.
It was built just North of Keith by Alexander Edward in 1895/96 and
the very first spirit was distilled at Aultmore in early 1897. Alexander
already owned the Benrinnes distillery at the time and added Oban
to his collection of distilleries in 1898. The future looked bright...

In 1998, a little over a century after it was founded, Aultmore
was acquired by the current owners Bacardi through their
subsidiary John Dewar & Sons. That's correct; that's the very
same company that bought the Aultmore distillery in 1923.

The distillery was purchased by John Dewar in 1923 and became part of DCL in 1925.
In the early 1950's Aultmore was among the first distilleries that experimented with the use of distillery waste as animal feed. Aultmore was reconstructed and upgraded in 1971, at which time the number of stills was expanded from two to the current four.

At the same time, the product from esteemed distilleries can be snubbed by blenders.
The malt whisky from distilleries like Aberlour, Ardmore, Dalmore and Glenmorangie doesn't seem to have a big reputation with blenders. Fellow malt maniac Charlie MacLean has written an excellent E-pistle in Malt Maniacs about the classification of malt whiskies from a blender's point of view. It's a real eye-opener; did you know that 'cult' Highland malts like Glen Garioch and Lochside are considered '3d class' malts by blenders who would rather use malts like Balmenach, Banff, Benriach, Dalwhinnie, Glendullan, Glen Keith, Glen Spey, Speyburn or Strathisla in their blends.

Aultmore has always been a 'modern' distillery; as you can see from the picture above, the reconstruction wasn't aimed at preserving a traditional 'picturesque' distillery look. Shortly after the upgrade of the distillery in 1971, Aultmore was sold on to industry giants United Distillers (predecessors of Diageo), who released a 'semi-official' 12yo Flora & Fauna bottling in 1991 (picture at the left) and a 'Rare Malts' version in 1996.

1) A 12yo official bottling of Aultmore was released in 2004, the first 'proper' official bottling after two 'semi-official' bottlings; a 12yo 'Flora & Fauna' released in 1991 and a 21yo 'Rare Malts' bottling.

2) The 'big burn' that the name refers to is the nearby Burn of Auchinderran, Aultmore's water source.

3) Aultmore was briefly powered by a water wheel, but they soon switched to a steam engine.

4) Aultmore is one of almost two dozen malt whisky distilleries that were founded during the 'whisky boom' of the
late 19th century and which have managed to survive until this day. The other survivors include Aberfeldy, Ardmore,  Balvenie, Benriach, Benromach, Bruichladdich, Bunnahabhain, Craigellachie, Dalwhinnie, Dufftown, Glendullan, Glenfiddich, Glen Moray, Glenrothes, Glentauchers, Knockandu, Knockdhu, Longmorn, Tamdhu and Tomatin.

5) More trivia about Aultmore distillery will be added later...
 

Aultmore is clearly a 'blender's malt' - bottlings of Aultmore as a single malt are quite rare.
When I wrote this (July 2005) I've sampled just five expressions from this distillery;

Aultmore 1989/1999 (50%, John Milroy Golden Strength, 70cl)
Nose: Softly sweet - a little restrained. Fresh, herbal, grassy. A fairly light profile.
A dash of pepper after a while. More honey after some time & water - which is nice...
Taste: Piny. Woody, with a malty undercurrent. Some eucalyptus or camphor, perhaps?
Sweet burn in the centre, which softens with some time and just a few drops of water.
Diluted further to +/- 30%, the sweetness switches on and off. Don't add too much water.
Score: 72 points - in the end I'd have to classify this as 'below average', I'm afraid.

Aultmore-Glenlivet 10yo 1989/2000 (59.5%, Cadenhead's, 228 Bts.)
Nose: Sharp but a bit tired, sweetening out. Not a lot of definition at cask strength. Let's try some water.
A dozen drops brought out more of the fruity character in the nose. A hint of smoke perhaps. Cream?
Taste: Very sweet on the palate, growing smokier in the middle. Fresh & fruity tannins. Good body.
A very well-integrated whisky; nose and taste go together very well. Water ruins the finish though.
Score: 82 points - this whisky has fabulous legs, by the way; even after adding water.

Aultmore 11yo 1985/1997 (43%, Signatory Vintage, bottle #468 of 484 from oak butt #2904, 70cl).
Nose: Grainy start with a good deal of citrus. Spicy. A bit herbal. A whiff of rotting hay.
Spirity at times. Pinch of salt. Medium 'volume' - the lack of sherry wood is obvious.
With water: Perfumy. Vanilla? More flowery and fruity. It becomes fresher all around.
Taste: Smooth and a bit peppery at the same time. Bittersweet. Sherried; a little oily.
Gingerbread? Malty finish, becoming very dry and woody. Big burn in the back of your throat.
Score: 71 points - the paradoxes in the taste make it an interesting malt.

Aultmore 12yo (40%, OB, Bottled early 1990's?)
Nose: Alcoholic and fresh. Herbal. Light and sweet. Faint smoke? Not very expressive.
More fruity and flowery elements with water. It has something sherried as well.
Taste: Light. Smooth and a little sweet. Malty. Maybe just a little floral and perfumy.
Decent burn. Lasting, dry finish. Pleasant but not a malt you'll remember for long.
Score: 69 points - but please note that this sample may have been drawn from an old bottle.

Aultmore 1991/2005 (46%, Wilson & Morgan).
Nose: Rich & very fruity. Spices. Quite sharp, though - you can't get a nose-full. Rubber, fruit & sherry.
Smoke? Maybe a tad extreme, but that's just how I like it... Based on the nose, I could go for 90 points.
Taste: Sweet, rich and sherried. Quite lovely! Feels very hot - a bit too much? Mega-enjoyable, though.
Score: 88 points - this bottling was matured in sherry wood and it isn't ashamed about it.
A true sherry monster; quite extreme. It pushes all the right buttons for me. Lovely stuff...

Aultmore 15yo 1987 (46%, Whisky Galore, 5cl trade sample)
Nose: Fruity start, growing 'farmy' and slightly sour quickly. Nicely developing organics. Coastal?
Sweetens out with time. Malty, but I noticed something medicinal as well. Some sweat, perhaps?
Taste: Fruity start, then lots of wood opening up into a sweet centre. Feels fresh. Pleasant mouth feel.
Over time it grows extremely smoky. I have to admit that it's a tad too bitter in the finish for me.
Score: 75 points - despite its flaws this malt sort of grew on me over time.
Too smoky on the palate for its own good? The smoke overpowers nearly everything else.

Aultmore 16yo 1990/2007 (58.8%, The Single Malts of Scotland, C#2536, 158 Bts.)
Nose: Polished & sherried. More cask influence than distillery influence. Spicy but a tad too harsh.
Then some clear 'rum' notes emerge. Growing complexity over time. An upper 80's nose.
Taste: Fruity, sweet & chewy. Good body; excellent tannins in the finish with a hint of smoke.
Score: 88 points - it jumped by one point from 87 points at the end of a looong finish.
 

These were not all the (official and independent) expressions of Aultmore I've tried over the years.
My Track Record used to contain a complete overview of all the single malts I've tried, but when I passed the 2000 malts mark (and the list wouldn't fit on two separate HTML pages anymore) I gave up. My Liquid Log still contains my tasting notes on most malts I've sampled and scored - but finding notes on a specific expression could be tricky. You might want to use the search box at the top of this page for that. The mAlmanac now contains personal selections of the best and the worst single malts I've tried so far - as well as the ones with the highest 'Bang-For-Your-Buck' value.

But those are all just my own, purely personal opinions. On Serge's distillery profile on Whiskyfun you can find another perspective on the distillery. Check out the Malt Maniacs Monitor on Malt Maniacs for my scores on all expressions I've tried so far - and those of almost all the other certified malt maniacs as well. The Malt Maniacs Matrix contains a few thousand single malts that were sampled and scored by at least four different malt maniacs, so you can compare our individual opinions.