Aultmore 14 Years Old 2009 Benchmark (Murray McDavid)

Bottled by Murray McDavid in 2023 as a 14 year old release of 2009 vintage Aultmore with 1267 bottles distributed to the German market at cask strength of 48.5%. Murray McDavid is a Scottish independent bottler founded in 1996, with the Benchmark series presenting carefully selected single casks at natural strength.

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 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 48.5% across 14 years reflects steady evaporative loss, with American oak influence layered over Aultmore's signature light, ester forward profile.