Aultmore 9 year old 2008 Sovereign, cask HL13138 for K&L

After this week's two DCL-era Aultmores, all I'm able to offer you is a review of a contemporary Aultmore, a 9-year-old single sherry cask that butts in at 59.8%abv, with a color as dark or darker than those two elders. Back in 2018 it was offered exclusively by K&L Wine Merchants for the very reasonable sum of $55. Those days are far behind us all.

Distillery: Aultmore

Owner: Bacardi Limited (via John Dewar & Sons)

Region: Speyside (Moray)

Bottler: Hunter Laing

Range: The Sovereign
Age: 9 years old (June 2008 - Aug 2017)
Maturation: Sherry butt

Cask #: HL13138

Outturn: 631 bottles

Exclusive to: K&L Wine Merchants
Alcohol by Volume: 59.8%
(from a bottle split)

NEAT

It has a vibrant nose, full of raspberry candy, orange peel, apricot jam, and A LOT of alcohol. Minor notes of flowers and metal develop with time. The palate brings the heat as well, but it's also sort of bourbony, with a mix of cherry jam, cinnamon candy, and honey. Maybe a few apricots too. The hot finish leans more towards cherries and nectarines, sweet and tangy.

I'm going to be careful with this youngling at first...

DILUTED to ~50%abv, or 1¼ tsp of water per 30mL whisky

Yep, oloroso cask-aged bourbon on the nose: vanilla, maple, walnuts, and raspberries. Though one can find hints of apple jam and bitter citrus, the palate is so woody. Charred lumber and extreme tannins. It finishes with apple peels and tannins.

Maybe a little more water will help.

DILUTED to ~46%abv, or 1¾ tsp of water per 30mL cask strength whisky

A whole new nose of flowers, pears, prunes, and mint. Meanwhile the palate is all bitter oak and unripe pears, and the finish is sour and tannic.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Keep this one neat as dilution wrecks the palate. I like the strange bourbon-like style that this Aultmore shows at full strength, especially since it's a fruity bourbon style. In fact, I like this whisky a little more than Wednesday's 30yo! It's too hot and oaky for it to be a regular drinker for me, but it's more enjoyable than many officially-bottled NAS cask strength sherried things from more popular distilleries.

For other takes, see the reviews by Whisky Musings and Whiskey Jug. At least we three can agree the price was right.

Availability - Sold out
Pricing - $55
Rating - 83 (neat only)

Aultmore 30 year old 1989 Single Cask Nation, cask 2459

Designed by the fellow who built Craigellachie, and originally run by Oban's owners, Aultmore has since passed through relatively few hands. John Dewar & Sons bought Aultmore on the distillery's 25th birthday in 1923. Dewar & Sons was then purchased by Distillers Company Limited, which later became United Distillers and Diageo. When Diageo had to sell off some of its holdings in 1998, the Dewar's portfolio found a buyer in Bacardi Limited.

On Monday, I tried an Aultmore distilled by Distillers Company Limited, and it was excellent. So, here's another one from that era, also matured in a sherry cask, bottled by J&J of Single Cask Nation. It's one of the oldest whiskies SCN has offered so far, and comes in at a zippy 57.1%abv.

Distillery: Aultmore
Owner at time of distillation: Distillers Company Limited

Current Owner: Bacardi Limited (via John Dewar & Sons)
Region: Speyside (Moray)

Bottler: Single Cask Nation
Age: 30 years old (June 1989 - Nov 2019)
Maturation: first fill sherry butt

Cask #: 2459

Outturn: 465 bottles
Alcohol by Volume: 57.1%
(from a bottle split)

NEAT

The nose has dark chocolate and dried cherries. Walnuts and smoked fish. Sort of meaty too. The palate arrives hot, very salty, and a little sulfury. It's earthy and leafy, with a hint of tart limes. It finishes a little brighter at first, with grapefruits, raspberries, and salt. Then it darkens with wood smoke and sulfur.

DILUTED to ~46%abv, or < 1½ tsp of water per 30mL whisky

The nose reads cleaner now, mostly a variety of dried berries, with milk chocolate in the middle, and the flints in the far back. Less sulfur in the palate, too. Salty and peppery, with mild bitterness. Some toasted almonds and simple syrup in the background. The finish holds onto the grapefruit note, and gains a sweet date or two. Bitter oak rumbles in the back.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Though this one reads even smokier and earthier than Monday's 35yo, I don't think that's due to the spirit. I think it's sulfur, which isn't a dealbreaker for me because I often enjoy dirty casks. Here the 'S' word doesn't dominate, in fact I like how it plays out in the nose. Dilution washes it nearly away, but oak creeps into the palate and finish at 46%abv.

The "medicinal, tart, herbal, and intense" character found in Monday's Aultmore has been mostly silenced by the cask. This 30yo's intensity comes from the heat and oak. I wonder what this cask was like 5-10 years earlier.

For a different take on this whisky, the Whiskybase reviewers seem to adore this thing, though the sample size is small.

Availability - Sold out

Pricing - ???
Rating - 82

Aultmore 35 year old 1982 Adelphi, cask 1575

Aultmore Week! I'm excited! Are you excited?! Well, you're gonna get three Aultmore reviews anyway.

The distillery's official 12 year old is to steal Mr. Opinions's term (again), unadorned. Which is good! I tried the 18yo OB too, liked it "A lot", then bought a bottle and drank it during Covid Year One. These experiences inspired me to source this week's trio of indie single casks, sherry casks to be more specific.

I'll go oldest to youngest this week, starting with something distilled during the first Reagan administration.

Distillery: Aultmore
Owner at time of distillation: Distillers Company Limited

Current Owner: Bacardi Limited (via John Dewar & Sons)
Region: Speyside (Moray)

Bottler: Adelphi
Age: 35 years old (1982 - 2017)
Maturation: sherry something or other

Cask #: 1575

Outturn: 196 bottles
Alcohol by Volume: 54.8%
(from a bottle split)

NOTES

An industrial + dunnage character forms the nose's foundation. Layered upon that are Andes candies (chocolate and mint), dried blueberries, toffee, and tiramisu.

Raw black walnuts, mint leaf, and mothballs start the palate, followed by tar, iodine(!), and tart dried mango. Hints of dried herbs and dunnage decorate the background. And it's all arrives in creamy textures.

The nearly endless finish holds the iodine, black walnuts, mothballs, and tart dried mango.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

I had never tried a DCL-era Aultmore before this. And WOW. This whisky is medicinal, tart, herbal, and intense. The sherry cask does plenty, but the spirit lives on. I'm pretty certain Bacardi doesn't make it like this anymore. This style likely helped lift old school Dewar's blends well above their current namesake. Yum.

I doubt there are many bottles left (see the outturn) in the secondary market, and due to its dark hue, the whisky likely brings a sturdy asking price, so I think I'm going to try another DCL-era Aultmore...

Availability - Sold out

Pricing - ???
Rating - 90

Aultmore 18 year old

I had the chance to try Aultmore 12 year old last January and found it to be a refreshingly malty malt. In fact, it is part of the most grimly titled whisky series yet: The Last Great Malts. I'm rather pessimistic about scotch whisky's future, but "The Last Great Malts"? Bacardi, that is some cold shit.

The time has come to try the official Aultmore 18 year old. It has more cask work involved in its production, compared to its younger sibling. Will that mean it has succumbed to the scotch industry's modern oak love?

Distillery: Aultmore
Ownership: Bacardi Limited (via John Dewar & Sons)
Region: Speyside (Moray)
Age: minimum 18 years
Maturation: bourbon casks and refill sherry casks
Alcohol by Volume: 46%
Chillfiltered? No
Caramel Colorant? No
(from a purchased sample)

NOTES
The nose begins with a bold burst of fermenting fruits (apples, plums and grapes), which is soon joined by roasted barley and fragrant cinnamon. Smaller notes of spearmint gum, orange pixy stix and white peach skins arise later on. The palate balances a sweet fruity note with an edgier mineral side. Salt and pepper. Hint of nutty sherry. A citrus juice note builds with time, but never takes over as its joined by an autumnal leafy note. No vanilla and no tough tannins in the finish. Sweet notes of nectarines and orange pix stix, meet with salt, nuts and butterscotch.

WORDS WORDS WORDS
I like this. A lot. Enough "like" for me to consider buying a bottle. It reminds me of AnCnoc 18, but with less heat and less sherry. It also beats both of this week's Ardmores. All of its elements feel aligned, though it has enough fight in it to keep it from being a simple crowd pleaser. These Last Great Malts are, in fact, pretty good so far.

Availability - USA and Europe
Pricing - $100-$140 USA, €80-€125 Europe
Rating - 88

Aultmore 12 year old

In late 2014, Bacardi Limited plopped three (Craigellachie, Royal Brackla and Aultmore) brand new and two rebooted (Macduff "Glen Deveron" and Aberfeldy) single malt ranges onto the scotch market all at once. It was nice to see five un-sexy distilleries' names suddenly appearing on shelves and retailer websites. The launch was called, "The Last Great Malts", a term that carries the weight of sadness and loss, rather than joy. Luckily marketing blather trends towards falsehoods and there have been numerous (three?) great whiskies released since.

I've read a few positive reviews of the Aultmore range, and have meant to try at least one of these whiskies for some time. I've tasted a grand total of two Aultmores before today, so I have no preconceptions about this sample.

Distillery: Aultmore
Ownership: Bacardi Limited (via John Dewar & Sons)
Region: Speyside (Moray)
Age: minimum 12 years
Maturation: refill hogsheads
Alcohol by Volume: 46%
Chillfiltered? No
Caramel Colorant? No
(from a purchased sample)

NEAT
The color is gorgeously pale, like me! The nose is almost entirely barley, yeast, soil and wet sand. Some hints of farm and mezcal float about. The palate has a good balance of mild sweetness and mild herbal bitterness. It's very malty, with small notes of bananas, tart citrus, vanilla, roasted seeds and nuts. More barley in the finish, along with grass, pineapple juice, bananas and chili oil.

DILUTED TO ~40%abv, or < 1 tsp of water per 30mL whisky
Now the nose has barley, chalk dust, homemade applesauce and cat piss (for you wine fans). The palate hasn't changed much. There's a madeira-like sweetness to it, as well as plenty of grass and herbs, and something sort of phenolic. The finish is shorter and grassier, with less sweetness.

WORDS WORDS WORDS
Clean as whistle, this one. It is, to steal MAO's term, unadorned. Congrats to the blenders for fashioning a single malt that tastes like malt. The 46%abv/NC/NCF presentation need also be highlighted.

There's an absence of excitement to it, and I guess there's something sort of thrilling about that. If you're looking to take a vacation from all the oaky oak that has slithered its way into most modern releases, this whisky is a decent destination. It would be a quality starter malt, in lieu of Glens Fiddich and Livet, but it carries a 50% premium over those whiskies in the US. Is $60 now the going rate of a starter malt?

Availability - Many specialty whisky retailers in Europe and USA
Pricing - $50-$75 (USA), $35-$55 (Europe, ex-VAT)

Rating - 83

Single Malt Report: Aultmore 5 year old 2007 Master of Malt

This bottling interested me ever since I first saw it online two years ago.  At 66.8% it would have been my most alcoholled (not a word) Scotch whisky.  I'm sure I'm not the only degenerate for whom that is a lure.  But not a whole damned bottle, mind you, I'm not an arsonist.

Alexander Edward had Aultmore built in 1896.  He already owned Benrinnes and Craigellachie, and two years later his company would take over Oban, so it sounds like he was having a good time during the Pattison years.  He rode through the bust that followed, but when the next drop came along, in 1923, he sold Aultmore, Benrinnes, and Oban to John Dewar & Sons. (My god, you just typed Dohn Jewer, you bastard.)  Dewar, Walker, and Buchanan merged together with Distillers Company Limited (DCL) in order to sweat out the dark times.  More than seventy years later, DCL (now called Diageo) sold the Dewar's properties to Bacardi Inc.  And that is who milks Aultmore for its Dewars blends to this day.  Somewhere on this planet there's an old official 12 year old, though Bacardi is releasing a couple new officials next month.  That could be a good thing since it can be a little difficult to find indie Aultmores.

And that brings me to this independent bottling, a single super-young cask from Master of Malt.  Let's see if this hot stuff tops yesterday's Aultmore.

The one on the right this time.  I reviewed the one on the left yesterday.

Distillery: Aultmore

Owner: Bacardi Inc.

Independent Bottler: Master of Malt

Age: 5 years (March 2007 - May 2012)

Maturation: first fill sherry puncheon (probably made of American oak)

Type: Single Malt
Region: Speyside (Banffshire)

Alcohol by Volume: 66.8%
Limited Release: 628 bottles
(Sample purchased by yours truly.)

NEAT
Though the whisky is only 5 years old, the first-fill cask has given it some color, a medium gold.  The nose isn't as spirity as I'd anticipated.  In fact there's less ethyl than yesterday's TBWC bottling.  An intense caramel note arrives first, then stays for the whole trip.  There are some very defined cereal notes, along with cotton candy and confectioner's sugar.  Both flower and flour notes.  Butter, Milk Duds, taffy, and a hint of prunes.  Its palate is raw and hot.  Just grains and herbs at first: oats, barley, hops, and juniper.  Then comes cinnamon, caramel, sour lemon candy, and graphite.  Grains and herbs again in the finish.  Also some tart citrus and a moment of pine.

How about we wet this fire?

WITH WATER (approx. 47%abv)
Oh man, at first the nose is all sea salt caramel gelato.  Then gradually out come notes of peaches and oranges, flower blossoms and pastry dough.  Very desserty, especially with the dusting of confectioner's sugar.  But the palate spins a different tale.  Wood plank, graphite, and burnt paper.  Caramel meets Tanqueray-like herbals.  Cinnamony rye-like new make.  It finishes with barley, caramel, stale cookies, and graphite.

The smell and taste exist in two completely different realms.  The nose is vibrant.  Hell, it's fantastic.  But the palate is nothing but very rough new make.  I'm not saying that MoM only nosed this cask before they bought it, but this would be a good example of the dangers of only nosing something before buying and bottling it.

For a different point of view, see Serge's review.  He found his to be all oak.  All those palate references to bourbon, coconut, vanilla, and sweetness were very foreign to what I tried.  Yeah, I found some caramel and wood plank, but everything else was grains and herbs and graphite.  Though, I think we'd agree that there's no integration between the wood and spirit in the palate.

To me the nose is so good that I would definitely drink this again, if offered.  But the palate is less than half baked so I'm not disappointed that I only bought a sample**.

Availability - Master of Malt (though it's sold out)

Pricing - Was $55ish w/o VAT, before shipping; around $80 w/shipping

Rating - 80

**Looking at the difference between my notes and those of Serge and a few whiskybasers, there is an undeniable gap in our palate notes.  Others get lots of buttery oak, and I found rough spirit.  IF this is difference is due to another dud sample, then it would bring up an interesting issue.  If the IF is true, then 40% of the samples I've bought of Master of Malt's own indie bottling ranges may have been corrupted or gone bad.  On the other hand, my problem rate with the non-MoM-bottling samples I've purchased from Master of Malt?  4% (2 out of 50).  I find it odd that the samples of their own releases have had a possible fail rate ten times that of their samples of everyone else's whiskies.  Is it the whiskies themselves or is it a problem in their sample bottling approach?  My friends who bottle their samples while standing over their kitchen sink have had a 0% problem rate.  As I mentioned in a comment section last week, as of last year I am no longer buying samples from MoM.  Aside from the high shipping costs and exchange rate being issues, I've noticed that at least 1 in 4 samples have a noticeably lower fill level than the rest.  And now there's this new possible problem.  Because I do have faith in their non-MoM-bottling samples, I will review my remaining samples until they are gone.  If I start noticing issues with those samples, then I'll have to make a difficult reviewing decision about one of my favorite sources.

Single Malt Report: Aultmore Batch 2 That Boutique-y Whisky Company

Alt-what?  Didn't you already do the Alt-something from that indie bottler with the colorful labels?  Didn't you leave the experience never wanting to try more of either ever again?

Sort of and sort of.  There's another Alt-something distillery and my misgivings about Allt-à-Bhainne were misguided since I enjoyed the subsequent Berry Bros sample.

But what about that self-proclaimed boutique (I'm not writing that name out) bottler?

I'm trying to keep an open mind.  Blue text, you're getting as jaded as I.

I've been trying to fight it.

Good luck with that.

And good luck with that whole open mind thing.

Thanks.

Yes, we're moving on to a pair of Aultmores this week.  I'd never tried an Aultmore before these reviews so I had no idea what to expect.  All I knew is that it was (like Aberfeldy) a main ingredient in Dewar's and that (like with Aberfeldy) Bacardi Inc plays Silas Stingy with its barrels, rarely letting any escape to the independent bottlers.  That Dewar's element doesn't work in its favor for me, but I was hoping that, perhaps, Bacardi put aside the barrels that didn't fit their brand and sent them upriver.  Here's to hoping!

In the next review, I'll get into a little more of Aultmore's history, but for now I'm going to get right to the tasting notes.  I'd entered this tasting hoping this experience would be better than my TBWC whisky from last week.  Here's to hoping!

I tried these side by side. I'm reviewing the one on the left today.

Distillery: Aultmore
Owner: Bacardi Inc.

Independent Bottler: That Boutique-y Whisky Company

Age: damfino

Maturation: yarp

Type: Single Malt
Region: Speyside (Banffshire)

Alcohol by Volume: 56.0%
Limited Release: 226 bottles
(Thank you to Tetris for donating this sample to Diving for Pearls Laboratory!)

NEAT
The color is light gold.  The nose starts with a wallop of pine sap, similar to the TWBC Allt-à-Bhainne.  That's followed by caramel, bitter orange, and lots of ethyl.  After some time, smaller notes of rosemary, savory herbs, brown sugar, and chlorine emerge.  The palate is piney too, at first.  Then comes vanilla, caramel, and tangy lemon.  There's a little bit of spice and malt, much more cinnamon syrup.  Lots of heat in the finish.  There are the tangy lemons, cinnamon, and vanilla, along with some black pepper.

Feels like this could use some water.

WITH WATER (approx. 48%abv)
Somehow, the nose is hotter.  Less pine, though.  The caramel and chlorine are still around.  In the background are some fresh oranges and a little bit of simple perfume.  The palate starts floral (more flowers than perfume now) and very spirity.  There's a slight sweetness along with vanilla and pepper.  The finish is bitterer.  Lots of heat, still.  Then pepper, sugar, and pine.

Water didn't do much to open it up, unless more was required.  It seemed very very young, even younger than the five year old Aultmore I'll review next.  The palate was more enjoyable than the nose as its combo of vanilla/caramel/lemon/cinnamon made for acceptable drinking.  And there was no fatal flaw as there was in the TBWC Allt-à-Bhainne.  Though, while there are similarities between my notes and the official ones, I'm having a difficult time saying anything complimentary about this Aultmore.  It's not terrible, but it seems like it was pulled from the oven before it was done baking.  And if it isn't in fact very young whisky, then maybe it could have used a better cask.  But I have no idea since TBWC discloses no information about their whiskies.

Once again, there aren't many (or any?) reviews of this whisky online.  For what it's worth, the whiskybase folks have rated it the lowest of the Aultmore TBWC batches.  If one bought a bottle and is struggling to get through it, perhaps blending it with a decent sherried malt may help it out.  And perhaps could it inspire one not to buy a whisky based on its label next time?

Availability - Master of Malt (though it's sold out)

Pricing - (500mL) Was $60ish w/o VAT, before shipping; close to $85 w/shipping

Rating - 74