Speyside’s most underrated gem…

Nestled within a hilly landscape sits Aultmore, a Speyside distillery, in the town of Keith, just off the river…a series of curved steeply sloped, shingled roofs, sit pregnant with the possibility of a hobbit appearing at any given moment. The Aultmore Distillery was founded by Alexander Edward in 1895, previous owner of the Benrinnes Distillery. Aultmore, like many distilleries of it’s kind, was born and bred for blending. Say for the rare and far between single malt offerings released intermittently by the impassioned, independent bottler.

Their incredible production output almost guarantees that there will always be a few of these special casks around for the most zealous malt-head to find. But everything changed after Aultmore started experimenting with an in-house single malt offering in 2004. After great success, they decided to release a true single malt core offering, much to our delight. Although they are one of the lesser known distilleries, Aultmore has a very high output relative to it’s size-- exceeding well over 2 million liters per year. Like most modernized distilleries, they closed their malting floors years ago, in order to keep up with demand.

Their 18-year-old is aged for 18 years in American white oak casks. Be prepared for honeyed and herbaceous elements. Think summertime in Speyside. This single malt also won a Double Gold medal at the 2016 San Francisco World Spirits Competition.