This installment takes us to the Speyside region, and the relatively under-appreciated distillery of Aultmore. Enjoy!
Colour: Pale Straw
Nose: Like a Hawaiian vacation in a glass… Heavy tropical fruits. Citrus, pineapple and banana immediately. Light vanilla and oakiness follow underneath.
Palate: Sweet, but not dessert-malt level. The tropical fruit is still predominant, but not to the same level as experienced on the nose. Sweet, honeyed toffee lead the way, followed by those tropical fruit notes: Green apple, grapefruit, and banana. The sweet arrival is offset by a drying on the palate through the development, with hints of heather and oak.
Finish: Dry and not particularly long. The slightly sour citrus notes from the development remain, and are join by a light, spicy, peppery note.
Score: 82/100
There’s a lot that really bums me out about becoming a scotch enthusiast late into the bull-run of the scotch market, especially here in Ontario. Prices are outrageous, single malts with age statements are slowly diminishing, and independent bottling are near-impossible to find. All that said, stuff like this really provides a silver lining! It’s just such a nice dram to sit down with and enjoy and if this were just a few years ago I never would have even known Aultmore existed, much less hope to find a bottling of it. I give a lot of kudos to Dewar’s and Bacardi not only for releasing their range of The Last Great Malts, but for doing so at reasonable prices, with age statements and with a little life left in the bottle.
I’d love, at some point, to give the 21 or 25 year old bottlings of Aultmore a try. A lot of what I enjoy in the 12 year old is in the youthful, zingy aspect of the spirit that I think marries so well with the fruity notes on the palate. How the character of the spirit holds up with more time in the barrel would be interesting to see.
Now if you’ll excuse me I’m going to go put on my Hawaiian shirt and pour myself another dram in my coconut shell…
The Green Malt 