Aultmore 18 Years Old 1997 (Single Cask)

Bottled by Cadenhead's in 2015 as a 18 year old release of 1997 vintage Aultmore with 252 bottles distributed to the German market at cask strength of 53.9%. Cadenhead's was founded in Aberdeen in 1842 and is the oldest independent bottler in Scotland, now operated by J&A Mitchell of Springbank Distillery.

Distilled at the Aultmore distillery near Keith in Speyside, founded in 1896 by Alexander Edward and owned by Bacardi via John Dewar & Sons since 1998. The wash is made from unpeated plain malted barley with soft Auchinderran Burn water, mashed in a stainless steel full lauter mash tun and fermented for 56 hours in six larch wood washbacks. Aultmore runs the spirit through two wash and two spirit stills of plain pot still shape, with steam heated wash stills and shell and tube condensers giving high copper contact for a light, ester forward Speyside character. The spirit was filled into ex-Bourbon American oak for 18 year on site maturation.

Extended maturation drove measured American oak extraction in temperate Speyside warehousing. Vanillin from lignin breakdown gave vanilla, cis and trans oak lactones added coconut and sweet wood, and char layer interaction produced furfural with Maillard derived caramelised sugars. Holding 53.9% across 18 years reflects steady evaporative loss, with American oak influence layered over Aultmore's signature light, ester forward profile.