Spirits

Taking its name from the Gaelic 'an t'Allt Mòr' meaning the "big burn", referring to their water source of the Auchinderran Burn, Aultmore is one of the great success stories of the last 20 years. Relatively unknown until released in the cult Flora & Fauna range and the blue-chip Rare Malts selection, recent years have seen the emergence of official Aultmore bottlings as premium single malts in their own right. Smart branding and exceptional quality means that anyone who tastes this Speyside gem knows they've found something special.

Fine, balanced and elegant; a quintessential Speysider from the town of Keith in Banffshire, Aultmore is prized for it's forward profile of orchard fruit and floral complexity, with mature examples adding a woody incense note that is very well complimented by either a lighter sherry cask or even just left in Bourbon wood for its lifetime.

Tasting Note

We are pleased to have secured this 8-year-old Aultmore cask which is showing tons of upside at this age; a brilliant value in hogshead with over 300 bottles to its credit this has a long life ahead of it and no mistake. This will be best left in Bourbon wood for the next few years before re-racking into either a refill oloroso hoghsead or 1st fill manzanilla to take full advantage of the spirit's elegance and fruit profile.

This twelve-year-old Highland Single Malt was distilled in 2008 at the Blair Athol Distillery along the banks of the River Tummel. Drawn from a single, undersized 1st Fill Bourbon Barrel previously used by the Koval Distillery, it is a youthful pale golden colour with bright aromatics of red apple and pear as well as fine vanilla and warm baking spices. A generous, well-balanced highlander from one of the oldest distilleries in Scotland dating back to 1798, this is a personal favourite and a fitting first bottling of the Stiùbhart Single Cask Selection. Bottled at a natural cask strength of 58.9% without chill filtration or added colouring.

Whisky Bible (97)

Well-aged Caol Ila is one of the greatest pleasures for a whisky drinker and collector, with very few bottles reaching and exceeding the 30-year marker. This offering from legendary bottlers Gordon & MacPhail is a bona fide treasure for lovers of this most thrilling Islay single malt. Distilled in 1988 and matured for 31 years in a refill sherry butt, this is showing a delicately balanced profile combining the classic peat and maritime-infused spirit with the fine fruit flavours and svelte texture courtesy of the cask type. Just 422 bottles were drawn at natural cask strength of 51.4%.

Colour: Burnished brass.

Aroma: Classically Caol Ila nose of wild flowers, sea breeze and burnt citrus peel with a slight dried fruit richness complimenting the peat.

Taste: Much sweeter on the palate with stewed fruit and prunes alongside smokey peat ad black olive. A bit Côte-Rôtie like?

Finish: There is a satisfying persimmon and black pepper drying complexity on the peat-infused finish. A true-blue Islay-lovers malt par excellence.

A single cask Islay malt matured in undersized ex-Bourbon barrels previously used to mature Bourbon whiskey at the Koval Distillery, showcasing Caol Ila’s classic oily maritime qualities with aromas of sweet, earthy peat, sea breeze and iodine alongside pungent, warming spices evoking cinnamon, cumin, smoked pepper and cardamom. A finish laced with eucalyptus and dried mint makes for a restrained, finessed Islay with a long, dynamic finish. Bottled at a natural cask strength of 58.1% without colouring or filtration.

The second bottling from the Stewart Whisky Company in their Stiùbhart Single Cask selection, released in March 2021 at 13 years of age in a limited run of just 132 bottles.