Aultmore 20 Years Old 1997 Cask #3608 (Ian Macleod)

Bottled by Ian Macleod in 2018 as a 20 year old single cask release drawn from cask 3608 of 1997 vintage Aultmore with 212 bottles distributed to the Netherlands market at cask strength of 52.8%. Ian Macleod Distillers is a family owned Scottish whisky company founded in 1933, owning Glengoyne, Tamdhu, and Rosebank distilleries alongside an extensive independent bottling programme.

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 ex-Bourbon American oak cask for 20 year on site maturation.

Extended maturation 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 52.8% across 20 years reflects steady evaporative loss, with American oak influence layered over Aultmore's signature light, ester forward profile.