Aultmore 10 Years Old 2010 Cask #800318 (The Vintage Malt Whisky Co Ltd.)

Bottled by The Vintage Malt Whisky Co Ltd. in 2021 as a 10 year old single cask release drawn from cask 800318 of 2010 vintage Aultmore with 192 bottles distributed to the European market at cask strength of 52.5%. The Vintage Malt Whisky Co. is a Glasgow based independent bottler founded by Brian Crook in 1992, with releases focused on small batch single cask Scotch 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 a single American oak cask for 10 year on site maturation.

Primary ester development sat alongside American oak extraction. 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. American oak influence integrates with Aultmore's underlying light ester signature at 52.5%.