Roger’s Vintage Selection
Aultmore 2010 12 Year Old
Already the 5th addition to the Vintage Selection range, a single cask from one of my personal favourite distilleries. Aultmore is normally a fruity, floral, refined whisky, but now its on a turbo!
Available right now, see Retailers for the full list.
The story of this whisky
The whisky
Aultmore is a bit of a lesser known distillery. Although widely available, this Speyside distillery does not attract much attention with loud advertisements etc. The spirit of Aultmore is appreciated amongst the whisky crowd for its refined and floral taste, and I consider it to be one of my personal favourite distilleries.
That’s why I was looking for an Aultmore cask to bottle and I was quite happy when I found and tasted this one. And when I tried it at different strengths I was amazed at how powerful the known qualities of Aultmore came through at a cask strength of 63.5%, while at the same time not overpowering your nose and taste buds with alcohol.
The spirit was distilled and filled in the cask on the 25th of March in 2010. It was bottled at an age of 12 years, and there were 335 bottles filled from the cask. Of course the whisky is non-chill filtered and not coloured. The whisky is bottled at a cask strength of 63.5% vol.
The label
One of the nicknames for Aultmore whisky distillery is “The Foggie Moss”. This refers to the forest with large trees around the distillery where it can often become foggy giving it an eerie atmosphere. We tried to capture this in the label art showing the forest in the foggy mist, the distillery buildings in the background, and two stags just wandering around. My friend Andrew (@whiskyhobo on insta) again did the beautiful label art.
What others are saying…
Serge Valentin
Whiskyfun
Ruben Luyten
Whiskynotes
Nose: fresher and fruitier, although it’s slightly boozy. A lot of green apples, sweet lemons and green plums. Hints of vanilla and icing sugar. Some gristy notes underneath. Later it also develops cool mint and light spice.
Mouth: quite hot of course, showing a nice texture, a lot of sweet barley notes and green fruit eau-de-vie. A crystal clear profile, albeit a bit narrow with a limited fruitiness. White pepper and a drying note as it fades. Water makes it slightly fruitier (mirabelles and citrus) and brings out a latte note but doesn’t add a lot of complexity.
Finish: short, although it’s nicely fruity and honeyed.
Here as well I have the feeling the spirit hasn’t reached its maturation peak yet. Nonetheless it’s a nice whisky with a natural charm and a lot of potential for summertime.
Score: 85
Thijs Klaverstijn
Words of Whisky
Nose: Fragrant and floral with a hint of quince, green tomatoes and just a touch of fabric softener, but also mulch, limes, lemon peel and white peach. It slightly sweeter with time, aided by the obligatory vanilla pods.
Taste: Proper creamy stuff but I think I would prefer it slightly reduced. My sample doesn’t really allow for it, but let’s add a few drops of water immediately. It brings out sweet barley husks, white pepper and crushed mint leaves, but also some peach and apricots, maybe even fermented grapes.
Finish: Long, chalky, subtle spices and a lingering grassiness.
Score: 82
Noortje Baselmans
Whiskylifestyle
Nose: rather fresh this one. I kind of get a hint of mezcal or something, haha. Then I get green apples and gooseberries, followed by lime. Later also some vanilla and mint too.
Taste: creamy at first, with soft vanilla and oatmeal. But then the alcohol kicks in quite fast. There is plenty of white pepper now but I still get some of the fruits in the background: green apples and green grapes. Water makes it creamier and fruitier, adding a hint of lemons and a sweet honey note.
Finish: short to mid-long, with notes of that same sweet honey and the green apples and grapes.
Score: 83
Roger’s tasting notes:
Nose: Really beautiful. Fresh tartness, Blueberries and blossom flower. Meringue, key lime pie, complex flavours coming together.
Taste: Sweet, a bit drying, amazingly rounded for this strength with a medium long finish.