Aultmore 12 Years Old 2013 Cask Series 026 (North Star)

Bottled by North Star Spirits in 2025 as a 12 year old release of 2013 vintage Aultmore with 57 bottles distributed to the European market at cask strength of 57.7%. North Star Spirits is an independent bottler founded in Glasgow in 2016 by Iain Croucher, with the Cask Series presenting numbered editions 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 12 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 57.7% across 12 years reflects steady evaporative loss, with American oak influence layered over Aultmore's signature light, ester forward profile.