Aultmore is another old distillery, established in 1895, production started two years later. A fairly big production of 2.4m litres a year, nearly all going to blends such as Dewar's, Vat69 and Johnnie Walker Black Label. There is currently a twelve year old OB on the market, but it's rarely seen and there's little or no fuzz about it as far as I've heard. And, it's probably one of the distilleries I have tried least of in these "Off the Beaten Path"-sessions, but if you keep following, there will actually later on be a vertical of a distillery that I've never ever tasted before.
Aultmore 12yo 1980-1992 43% Cadenhead's for The Mini Bottle Club
At first glance I thought this bottle was an OB, but with very tiny letters on the bottom of the label it says it's bottled by William Cadenhead Ltd. White wine color. Having been left in the bottle for 20 years, things could have happened, the spirit often keeps developing in the bottle, just at a very different pace. It smells spirity and burnt at first, but shortly turns into some rather nice wunderbaum, minty, glue, vanilla, creme liqueur, I like it a bit more than I thought I would. The taste is right on with mint (toothpaste), coconut, vanilla and ginger. Light, sweet and a nice bitter attack in the middle before it finishes off with even more mint in the end. Seriously, after drinking this I feel like I've just brushed my teeth.
The taste in this one is definitively off the beaten path: 6.5
Aultmore 12yo 1989-2001 43% Signatory Vintage cask#2394
This one comes from a sherry butt, although just as pale as the one from Cadenhead's. White sherry then, or a fourth or fifth refill? It smells much lighter, boiled carrots, leather, burnt polystyrène, green bananas, just very light and easy, perhaps it needs water to open up? Let's see. The taste is initially bitter and somewhat drying, caraway and leather, I'll give it some water. With additional water it turns sweeter, oranges, cucumbers, beets, kind of a citrussy and vegetal taste. the aftertaste is bitter and sour, lime and grape seeds.
A whisky that would be better off in a blend I think, light stuff: 3
Aultmore 14yo 1980-1995 43% Signatory Vintage cask#5635 btl.110/2040
Second one distilled in 1980 so far in this tasting, and that has been the superior vintage so far. But again, this is another one from Signatory so it could easily go both ways here. Actually this could just as well be a Signatory vertical as there's still one more Signatory bottling left to go after this one. This one has a more golden tone. The nose is much sweeter with again these vanilla and minty notes. It's not the talker around the table, just providing a very pleasant and gentle sweetness so far, and some licorice after a while. The taste is light and sweet, again, but it doesn't give much more, one of the lightest drams I've ever had. The aftertaste is also light, sweet, like butter caramel or even cotton candy.
Light, clean, sweet and well, bland, to be frank: 4
Aultmore 9yo 50% Douglas Laing Old Malt Cask Cigar Malt
I have seen this "Cigar Malt"-expression before, used by Whyte & MacKay to label one of their bottlings from Dalmore Distillery, and I believe it's also been used by Macallan and some more. But what is a Cigar Malt? Well, according to online retailers Master of Malts it's "a whisky destined for pairing with a cigar." How will it stand on its own? It's the darkest one so far in this tasting, golden amber color. The nose screams of cinnamon, whipped cream, roasted onions and prosciutto ham. A nice smokiness over rich creaminess and sweet and spicy cinnamon. Best one so far, as it seems to lean on some heavy sherry influences. But the taste then? The taste is quite easy, once again light on the tongue, doesn't evolve much before it hits the back of your palate, turns sweet, parsley paste, ginger, raw hops, a weird and almost indefinite taste, just way to understated. It's hard to catch on to any real flavors here, except some floral notes. The nose was great, but after that it suddenly went steep downhill.
All in all delightful, but again on the bland side: 3.5
Aultmore 11yo 60.4% Master of Malt
As you might spot, by looking at the age and %abv. this could easily be from the same cask as the last Signatory was. But thankfully there is a difference that proves we're not talking about a shared cask. And it's not the vintage. It's just the fact that the Signatory is a shade or two darker in terms of color. And as the cask strength bottlings from Signatory are not color adjusted, and no whiskies are color adjusted to be paler (as far as I know) this one must come from a different cask, or it could even be a vatting of different casks. The color is white wine, similar to the Cadenhead's. The nose is peppery and reminds me a lot about the coastal air, a bit salty, licorice seems to be a common nominator for Aultmore, dark syrup and pine. The taste is thick and rich, ripe bananas, figs, dark grapes, watermelon, a both interesting and extremely "dark" whisky if you know what I mean. Have a cuban, put on a record of early Nick Cave and sip this drink. Wow! It's not the best I've had, but it's a monster that have earned the right to mingle with the beauties at 7+.
It's one of those honest drams that's easily forgotten: 7
Next tasting: Off the Beaten Path#5
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