Aultmore 13 Years Old 1989 Cask #2402 (Samaroli)

Bottled by Samaroli in 2002 as a 13 year old single cask release drawn from cask 2402 of 1989 vintage Aultmore with 426 bottles distributed to the German market at 45%. Samaroli is an Italian independent bottler founded in Rome in 1968 by Silvano Samaroli, considered one of the pioneers of Italian Scotch bottling.

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 Oloroso sherry cask for 13 year on site maturation.

Patient cask interaction drove European oak Oloroso sherry chemistry. Ellagitannins and gallic acid from the European oak build dried walnut and grip, while oxidative aldehydes including acetaldehyde and syringaldehyde develop nutty, leathery rancio. Fermentation derived sotolon adds dried fig and curry leaf, with concentration of glycerol lending body, integrated with Aultmore's underlying light ester signature at 45%.