Aultmore 10 Years Old 2012 (Hepburn’s Choice)

Bottled by Hunter Laing in 2022 as a 10 year old release of 2012 vintage Aultmore with 464 bottles distributed to the European market at 46%. Hunter Laing is an independent Glasgow bottler run by Stewart Hunter Laing, with the Hepburn's Choice and Old Malt Cask ranges presenting hand selected single cask releases.

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 10 year on site maturation.

Primary ester development sat alongside 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 46% across 10 years reflects steady evaporative loss, with American oak influence layered over Aultmore's signature light, ester forward profile.