Aultmore
Rating: C+
Region: Speyside
Owner: John Dewar & Sons (Bacardi)
Founded: 1896
Prior to 2015 I really didn’t have any desire whatsoever to taste the distillery releases. Why you ask, well, just take a look at my tasting notes for the Independent release ( https://gauntleys.wordpress.com/category/scotch-whisky-a-g/aultmore) and you’ll see that the term ‘hit and miss’ is very apt for these bottlings. They ranged from the sublime – the Dewar Rattray 28 year old and the Old Malt Cask 30 year to the awful – the Bladnoch Forum 28 year old, via a number of eminently forgettable bottlings.
The thing is that Aultmore is supposedly every blenders dream. It’s supposed to be a good bedrock as they say. However after years of tasting the Independent releases I couldn’t get a handle on what they style of the spirit was, so I had to taste the distillery releases if I was ever going to get a figure that out. And….
Two words - Batch Variation!!! Now. I will say that the distillery releases are absolutely fabulous and definitely worth seeking, but take the 21 year old for example. I have tasted it blind on two occasions and from my notes you would have thought that I was tasting two completely different whiskies, where one was deep and barley’d, as you would expect it to be the other was fresh and citric. Both were absolutely fabulous, but talk about chalk and cheese.
The same can be said for the 25 year old as well. The first time it was a classic, mature, American oak aged Speyside malt, the next time it was, hello! Sherry! Talk about confusing! Anyway both bottlings were gorgeous, but different, so even though there is no denying the quality of the spirit that the distillery is bottling, you never quite know just exactly what you are going to get.
Region: Speyside
Owner: John Dewar & Sons (Bacardi)
Founded: 1896
Prior to 2015 I really didn’t have any desire whatsoever to taste the distillery releases. Why you ask, well, just take a look at my tasting notes for the Independent release ( https://gauntleys.wordpress.com/category/scotch-whisky-a-g/aultmore) and you’ll see that the term ‘hit and miss’ is very apt for these bottlings. They ranged from the sublime – the Dewar Rattray 28 year old and the Old Malt Cask 30 year to the awful – the Bladnoch Forum 28 year old, via a number of eminently forgettable bottlings.
The thing is that Aultmore is supposedly every blenders dream. It’s supposed to be a good bedrock as they say. However after years of tasting the Independent releases I couldn’t get a handle on what they style of the spirit was, so I had to taste the distillery releases if I was ever going to get a figure that out. And….
Two words - Batch Variation!!! Now. I will say that the distillery releases are absolutely fabulous and definitely worth seeking, but take the 21 year old for example. I have tasted it blind on two occasions and from my notes you would have thought that I was tasting two completely different whiskies, where one was deep and barley’d, as you would expect it to be the other was fresh and citric. Both were absolutely fabulous, but talk about chalk and cheese.
The same can be said for the 25 year old as well. The first time it was a classic, mature, American oak aged Speyside malt, the next time it was, hello! Sherry! Talk about confusing! Anyway both bottlings were gorgeous, but different, so even though there is no denying the quality of the spirit that the distillery is bottling, you never quite know just exactly what you are going to get.
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