Aultmore 26 Years Old 1997 Cask #3566 (Riegger’s Selection)

Bottled by Riegger's Selection in 2024 as a 26 year old single cask release drawn from cask 3566 of 1997 vintage Aultmore with 104 bottles distributed globally at cask strength of 54.3%. Riegger's Selection is a German independent bottling project focused on hand selected single cask releases 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 ex-Bourbon American oak cask for 26 year on site maturation.

Patient cask interaction across more than two decades 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 54.3% across 26 years reflects steady evaporative loss, with American oak influence layered over Aultmore's signature light, ester forward profile.