Aultmore 14 Years Old 2002 (SMWS 73.86)

Bottled by Scotch Malt Whisky Society in 2016 as a 14 year old single cask release drawn from cask 73.86 of 2002 vintage Aultmore with 580 bottles distributed to the Netherlands market at high cask strength of 59.2%. The Society identifies each release by a numerical code rather than the distillery name, with Aultmore listed as distillery 73 in the Society's archive.

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 a single ex-Bourbon American oak cask for 14 year on site maturation.

Patient cask interaction 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 59.2% across 14 years reflects steady evaporative loss, with American oak influence layered over Aultmore's signature light, ester forward profile.