Aultmore 11 Year (Classic Cask)

Aultmore is yet another of those distilleries I've barely encountered. Founded in 1895 by Alexander Edward (who also owned Benrinnes), from early on it was powered by a steam engine that ran day and night for ~70 years (according to Wikipedia) - what a feat! It's been bought and sold and opened and closed a number of times over the years, until Bacardi bought it (under their Dewars label) in 1998. Currently Bacardi owns Aultmore, Aberfeldy, my beloved Craigellachie, Macduff, and Royal Brackla. The vast majority of Aultmore flows directly into Dewar's White Label, which is supposedly the top-selling blended scotch in the United States. Dewar's is supposedly the blender who invented the concept and execution of the "marrying vat" - after several whiskies are blended together, they are aged together for a time to increase coherence, robustness, and smoothness. 

This bottle is from Classic Cask, an independent bottler I've had only good experiences with. Thanks to Rob Martin for the sample! Bottled at a pleasant 46% ABV after 11 years in a refill hogshead. I couldn't find a single review of this anywhere online, so let's investigate:

Nose: Orchard fruit (apple, pear) and stone fruit (peach or apricot). Maybe some dried citrus peel in there too. Slightly sour or unripe fruit as well, but that fades as you let it sit, and is replaced by young leather. 

The nose has a warming/prickling effect. Slight scent of savory sulfur, but in a pleasant, backbone kind of way that underfills the fruit nicely. Cereal. Vanilla. White wine - as in white grape must. And an earthy, herbal aroma is present as well. Very nice. 

Mouthfeel: Viscous, chewy.

Palate: Drier and spicier than the nose: baking spices galore ("cabinet spices" I've heard them called), dry apples and pears (a nice mulled cider note, baked pears), vanilla, and more white grapes. Malted barley, but only a little. Oak comes in at the end of the palate development. 

With a splash of water, it becomes sweet, like the nose. Honey comes out. Coconut, maybe. The spices integrate into ripe apples and pears. I prefer it with a little water, I think. 

Finish: Oak and apple and a little pepper and spice. Short-to-medium length, but gains a little time with the addition of water. 

Verdict: Quite a nice Speysider. It's interesting how it moves from juicy orchard fruit into dry versions of the same flavors and then wraps itself up with the expected oak and spices. Very solid. The 46% helps a lot. Recommended as a very commendable orchard-and-spice forward bottle.