Origin: Speyside (Scotland)
Type: Single Cask Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Strength: 51.4%ABV
Ageing cask: Ex-Bourbon
Chillfiltered: No
Additional Coloring: No
Owner: Valinch & Mallet Ltd.
Average price: € 50.00
Official website: www.valinchandmallet.com
Vote: 86/100
Yet another bottle from The Young Masters Edition series, this time from the little-known Speyside distillery, with a 2010 distillate aged in a single Bourbon hogshead cask, bottled cask strength in a limited edition of 270 bottles.
As a newcomer to this blog, let’s say a few words about the Aultmore distillery.
Owned by Bacardi (through John Dewar & Sons), its origins date back to 1895 thanks to Alexander Edward, former owner of Benrinnes, and saw its production capacity double just three years later.
Bankruptcy at the end of the century led to the closure of the distillery, which reopened in 1904 and, bad luck on top of bad luck, stopped production again at the time of the Great War.
In the years that followed it changed hands several times, from John Dewar & Sons to the Distiller Company to Scottish Malt Distillers in 1930, which retained control and carried out several expansions, selling it in 1998 to the current owners.
Much of the whisky production ends up in Dewar’s blends, with few bottlings on the label, so much so that the first official one (the 12 year old) only came out in 2004 following a couple of special editions.
There are currently three versions in the core range: 12 years, 18 years and 21 years.
Tasting notes
Straw yellow in the glass.
Very fresh and floral on the nose, but anything but ethereal, with the alcohol content sustaining the aromas and making them compact, declined in rose, grassy carpet, drops of honey, peach, cereals, macaroons. Freshly cut wood. Very Spring-like, but without the Covid-19…
The alcoholic thrust warms the palate, stirring the soul with a touch of white pepper, while dried fruit (almonds and walnuts) and fresh fruit (peach again with pineapple) take on body, always lying on the grass. Citrus fruits pressed on wood with cereal crumble. More lively than on the nose, but always on refreshing tones, almost thirst-quenching (almost).
The finish is quite long, of cereal, peach, wood and grass.
A whisky that relaxes and teases, making you feel as young as its years, which in its blunt simplicity finds its strength.