Aultmore 10 Year (SMWS 73.129 "In the Fields")

 

I haven't had a ton of Aultmore... in fact, I've only had one sample, of an independently bottled 11 year, which I liked. This bottle in front of me is from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS"), matured 10 years in a second-fill ex-bourbon barrel. It's bottled at 58.6% ABV, and here are the official notes:

A rich and satisfying aroma that displayed notes of raw barley along with vegemite on brown toast, hot pine resin, toasted nuts, clean cereals and a generous slice of vanilla sponge cake. Water offered a grassier edge with condensed milk and a scatter of sherbet lemons in there too for good measure. The palate was surprisingly juicy and fat. Lots of orange sweets, black tea, ripe pineapple, malt syrup, barley sugars and apricot jam. With water we got pear drops, ginger cake, white chocolate, new leather, soft wood spice and milk stout beer. 

Intriguing - sounds very solid, which is the same adjective I used for the last Aultmore I had. Malt, cereals, vanilla... grass, milk, lemon... orange, sugar, ginger... all normal Speyside notes, and expected. What I'm most interested in: hot pine resin; black tea; and milk stout beer. Crossing my fingers. Let's dig in:

Nose: Holy hell, this was a surprise. Pine! Pine for days! The neck pour on this baby is like sniffing a Christmas tree up close. It's the dominant note. If you scent the aroma deeply and for a long time, you get lemon yogurt, brown bread, and roasted cashews. It's exceptionally dry and bready. I get absolutely no sweetness or sweet notes on the neck pour. 

With water: Pine needles interspersed with fresh-cut grass clippings. Perhaps, if I'm being generous and imaginative, lemon zest/lemon peel. Stays mostly the same. 

Mouthfeel: Thin/medium, oily. 

Palate: Weird. This is a weird whisky. I get a fat mountain of milk chocolate, cafe au lait, malt barley, hints of citrus (lemon meringue pie), milk stout beer (!!!), and - indeed - black tea. This accentuates a whole subset of oak/vanillin flavors that usually are accents, but are the main stage here. 

With water: No pear, some ginger, no white chocolate, yes to leather, but mostly that same malt chocolate/milk stout/black tea set of flavors. 

Finish: Fresh toast, pine trees, oak, leather. Hints of lager beer (!). An odd finish to an eccentric dram. 

Verdict: This is an odd one. It scratches a very specific, particular itch. If you like pine, you will like this. If you like pine and milk stout or Guinness... you will love this. If you like pine, Guinness, and hints of lemon meringue and tea, you should go buy every bottle they still have of this. It's quite strange, but I like it. Not for everybody. The official nickname is "In the Fields" and that feels very apt. Fields full of pine trees.