Aultmore - The Last Great Malts

The Still House

At the beginning of January John Dewar & Sons Ltd. unveiled a new range of bottlings from Aultmore distillery, forming the next part of its ‘Last Great Malts’ of Scotland. This new range launches from January 2015 with a 12 Year Old, a 21 Year Old Travel Retail Exclusive and a 25 Year Old in limited quantities. It will be released initially in ten markets around the world including Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Russia, Sweden, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, the United States and Travel Retail.

Dave visited the distillery at the end of June 2014 (and is logged as Distillery Discovery No.12) when he was invited along on a press trip that encompassed all five of the Barcardi groups single malt distilleries. You can see his photos of this distillery in our Facebook album here: Aultmore Photos

Aultmore was founded in 1896 by Alexander Edward, then owner of the Benrinnes Distillery, and has been producing malt whisky (with the usual on and off periods') since 1897 yet little is known about this obscure distillery. 

Aultmore's sweeping hills in light fog or is it Scotch mist?

Located in the sweeping hills of Moray, just north of the town of Keith on the rolling road to Buckie, it's often cloaked in thick fog, exuding an air of mystery. Its name is a derived from the phrase An t-Allt Mòr, Gaelic for big burn, referring to its water source the Auchinderran burn. The sparsely populated land surrounding its site has always felt somewhat isolated. The distillery was originally powered by a waterwheel, and was soon adapted to use a steam engine instead which ran day and night for seventy years, apart from maintenance. During maintenance hours power was provided by the mainly retired waterwheel. The steam engine is now on display at the distillery.

Early 12 Year Old

In the 1950s Aultmore was one of the first to use the draff, a wasteproduct of whisky production, as animal feed. The distilleries malting floors closed in 1968 and the entire distillery was rebuilt and expanded in 1970. In 1998 the distillery bought by Bacardi subsidiary Dewars, (which had previously owened Aultmore between 1923 and 1925) and produced their first official bottling, a 12 year old, in 2004, after an earlier flora and fauna release, and an earlier rare malts release from 1996

There's nothing left of the original buildings, and it's now installed with a modern 10 tonne Steinbecker full lauter mash tun. The distillery operates seven days a week and they achieve 16 mashes per week with a minimum fermentation time of 56 hours in the six wooden (larch) washbacks feeding two pairs of stills, and last year achieved 3.03 million litres of spirit.

The Washbacks at Aultmore

The Scotch itself is often dubbed the ‘Rarest of Speyside’, yet its taste has long been rated top-class by industry insiders and is much sought-after for its grassy notes and exceptional smoothness. Despite its rarity, for more than 100 years it’s known to have been a secret dram of locals and Buckie fishermen, savoured by those who knew to ask at nearby inns for ‘a nip of the Buckie Road’. Most of the whisky produced like most malt distilleries goes for blending, and Aultmore, has up until now been used exclusively for blends.

Legendary whisky writer Michael Jackson describes Aultmore as a 'fine malt in the oaky style' and goes on to describe the house style as 'Fresh, dry, herbal, spicy, oaky. Reminiscent of a Fino Sherry, albeit a very big one. Before dinner' (Malt Whisky Companion 6th Edition). 

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society describe Aultmore as a Speyside (Deveron) and go on to say it is considered Top Dressing by blenders, and is bottled only in small amounts by John Dewar & Sons (Bacardi). The first Society bottling was in 1989 (Distillery No.73)

During the press trip Dave got to try the 'work in progress' cask sample of the 25 Year Old (Whisky Discovery No.882) and later at a Masterclass at Dramboree 2014 Brand Ambassador Stephen Marshall brought along both the 12 Year (Whisky Discovery No.913) and 21 Year Old (Whisky Discovery No.914) expressions, albeit the unfinished product, as all three were cask samples of 'work in progress. 

Work in progress

All three new releases have been released at 46% abv, are non chill filtered and natural colour. I was was sent samples of all three for the following reviews:

Whisky Discovery #1140

Aultmore 12 Years Old, 46% abv

Speyside Singe Malt

Circa £45.00 700ml

Official Tasting Notes: Born of fog, bog and brimming wee burns, a verdant nose of dewy moss and delicate flora, sweet liquid tracking a secluded path, gliding through green grass and fresh wild herbs.

So What Did I Think?

The nose was very Clean and fresh with grassy citrus notes which softens after a little time in the glass. The freshness transfers nicely to the palate too with the citrus notes more lime like. It's quite peppery too. Once it has had time to settle and a drop of water added the gentle sweetness comes through, citrus remains with tangy cheesecake and shortbread biscuits. The finish is long and dry, while remaining grassy, with perhaps more herbal notes developing at the very end. The following morning the glass gave notes of malty chocolate with hints of heather.

Verdict: Well this is certainly within my whisky budget and certainly something I'm looking forward to introducing to friends at the Bedford Whisky Club as soon as I can

Whisky Discovery #1141

Aultmore 21 Years Old, 46% abv

Speyside Singe Malt

Circa £tbc 700ml

The 21 Year Old will only be available at Travel Retail outlets and we do not have any price details yet.

Official Tasting Notes: Ethereal summer nights, gloaming air tinged with fruity olive oil and rosemary, then velvety sweetness with soft melon and cereal hues; a sleekit-smooth secret, shared at last.

So What Did I Think?

The nose comes across immediately much richer in style with more fruit notes, softer tropical notes but still has a youthful freshness. Herbal notes come a little later, perhaps a hint of dried rosemary. The mouth feel is initially sweet, but there is a surprising hint of 'old Whisky' notes that I wasn't expecting. It's certainly a very smooth and silky dram once given some time to settle in the glass. The citrus flavours reminded me of a watered down orange juice , which is accompanied with some polished wood notes which turn very dry towards the long finish as the tannins take over. The following morning the empty glass gave rich fruity notes with wet wood and malted biscuits.

Verdict: I suspect this might be a little out of my budget, but it certainly is an interesting expression which deserves further investigation.

Whisky Discovery #1142

Aultmore 25 Years Old, 46% abv

Speyside Singe Malt

Circa £300.00 700ml

Official Tasting Notes: Reclined in damp shorn grass, vapours of lime and baked apples, each silken sip unveiling lush vanilla and buttery biscuits; dreich skies deserve a top-class dram.

So What Did I Think?

The nose opened with some icing sugar before the 'old whisky' notes really come through. There are all the cliché notes of polished wood, old leather book covers, cartridge paper and linseed oil. The 'house style 'grassy notes' are there but more subdued. A drop of water releases baked apples with cinnamon notes. Simply glorious! The palate is rich and creamy, decadent with typical vintage whisky notes of worn leather and polished wood and hints of shortbread biscuits. Once again the finish is very dry, but this has a peppery zest at the very end too.The following morning the empty glass was still glorious reminding me of old violins and rosin.

Verdict: I really loved this, but unfortunately it's out of my league!

Many thanks to Dewers for the samples and for my invitation to explore their five malt whisky distilleries. For more information about the Aultmore releases check out their website here: Aultmore For more information on the new single malt expressions, the five distilleries, tasting notes, crafting, and heritage, please visit: Last Great Malts

Slàinte! Dave

Whisky Distillery Discovery No.2 - Glen Garioch

It was exactly one year ago that I visited my first Scottish whisky distillery, The Glen Garioch Distillery in Oldmeldrum and I still have fond memories of that September Friday afternoon.

I got the opportunity to visit Scotland on a business trip to Aberdeen during the that week of September. A large industrial show was being held in the city of Aberdeen I and was being sent up there to evaluate the show for a possible future exhibition. Although I hadn't left it too late to book flights which were readily available and still reasonably priced, booking a hotel was a little more tricky. The nearest place I could find to stay was in Elgin, some 60 odd miles away and an hour and a half drive each way.

Originally I was scheduled to travel with my Managing Director and I was already making plans to extend the trip over a weekend in order to take in some sights (read distilleries) but upon seeing the distance we would be traveling each way, he decided that I should go on my own, as he has little patience for travlleing, and so the trip was arranged. With a double room booked at the Premier Inn Linkwood, just outside Elgin, from the Wednesday evening until Sunday morning, and a hire car for the duration I thought it would be a good idea to ask my wife to accompany me. My wife doesn't drink and as long as I stayed awake to give directions, she would drive me home from the distilleries.

In the meantime I started investigating possible distillery visits and hatched a plan. The nearest distillery to Aberdeen is The Glen Garioch Distillery in Oldmeldrum, it was practically 'on the way home' taking the scenic route, and as the trade show finished early on the Friday (scheduled to close at 1400) it certainly seemed feasible to make an afternoon appointment for a tour. I made the necessary calls and booked it all up for 1500 which gave me plenty of time to escape from Aberdeen and meet my appointment.

The Still Room

Glen Garioch is one of the oldest distilleries in Scotland. Founded in 1797, it is Scotland’s most easterly distillery. Situated just twenty minutes from Aberdeen in the town of Oldmeldrum, it’s known as Aberdeenshire’s malt. Proud of their north east heritage, the Doric pronunciation is everything when it comes to Glen Garioch. Pronounced Glen Geery (which means Granary) the whisky takes its name from the local dialect for a tract of richly fertile land. It could be said the area was made for whisky production. The beautiful and richly fertile land has been famed for centuries as the ‘Granary of Aberdeenshire’, known for producing the finest barley in Scotland. When we visited the fields around were very busy with the farmers working hard and long hours trying to bring all the harvest home before the autumn set in

Arriving at Aberdeen late that Wednesday evening, we drove straight up to the hotel, it was very late when we finally reached our destination, overnight roadworks on the A96 causing some delays to the expected ninety minute run, and with a fairly early start the following morning decided to call it a day (the pub next door had already closed, so no dram before bedtime possible)

After a very long day at the trade show (Offshore Europe is a huge show and I spent the whole day walking each and every one of the halls, checking out the exhibits, looking for business opportunities and checking out competitors) I decided that we would take the long way back to the hotel, via Oldmeldrum, to check the route, the time needed and to make sure at could find the distillery the following afternoon. (I was a boy scout and being prepared is my motto!)

Pagodas in the sunshine - the old Maltings are to the left

Over the years Oldmeldrum has grown around the distillery, now nestled on the outskirts of the thriving town. It was a glorious afternoon, clear blue skies with bright sunshine and when we pulled up in the visitor centre car park, there were still a few cars there, so we made our way into the visitor centre to have a quick scout around, meeting Frank who confirmed we we were expected for the following afternoon. With the weather so fine it was also a good opportunity to take a few photographs as the weather forecast wasn't quite so good for the Friday. 

The show in Aberdeen seemed to fizzle out earlier than expected on the Friday, with many of the exhibitors starting to pack up while I was still trawling the aisles so we decided to leave early and head out to explore Oldmeldrum first, stopping for lunch in the community cafe in he middle of town. The community cafe was a wonderful find. Every table was taken when we popped our head in, but one of the tables had two spare seats and we were asked to join them, as they were just having their lunch before their shift at the cafe started. The cafe is all run by volunteers, for the community, and all the food was home made and we got to chat to some of the locals and find out a little bit about Oldmeldrum

After lunch of home made soup, followed by tea and scones we made our way over to the distillery, which was conveniently located in Distillery Road. We were met by visitor centre manager Fiona who poured me a large dram of their Founders Reserve while we waited for Distillery Manager Kenny 'Digger' Grant to take us around.

Although founded in 1797 The Glen Garioch distillery, like most of our older distilleries has had a chequered history. Production stopped in 1968 due to a chronic water shortage and five years passed before it started producing spirit again in 1973. It was then mothballed again for two years in 1995

Kenny has some history with Glen Garioch, having worked his way through every part of the process since joining the company as a young man after an initial career with the Army. His connection with the distillery goes back further than his own career, as his father affectionately known as 'Digger' Grant was responsible for finding a suitable water source after the distillery was mothballed in 1968.

Kenny, who has also assumed his fathers nickname 'Digger', took us straight across the road and into the old maltings. The maltings haven't been in use since the distillery was last mothballed in 1995 and so have been slowly decaying through lack of use. It's sad to see such a grand old building with its two malting floors and two grain storage floors unused. Repairs were being made to the upper wooden floors and roof when we visited, but I'm not sure what they will be used for.

Enjoying a dram of the 1999 'fill your own' with Kenny

As it was my first full distillery visit I'd never walked the malting floor, and although familiar with the process, Kenny explained what it was really like, back in the day when he was working in the maltings for real. It certainly sounded like back breaking work, but like all places of work, there seemed to have been a lot of fun there too, as Kenny let on about some of the pranks they would play on each other, and especially with the new guys.

From the maltings we went through to see the old kilns, again no longer in use. When the distillery was reopened in August 1997 it was decided that malted barley would be shipped in. Nowadays the malt is unpeated, but pre-1995 there peat was used in the kilning process to circa 8-10 ppm.

Stainless Steel Washbacks

From the kiln we moved into the current working operational side of the distillery. The 4.4 tonne full later mash tun is used 15 times a week, filling the eight stainless steel wash backs where a fermentation time of 48 hours is usual.

There are three stills in the still room, there used to be two pairs back in the mid seventies, but now the 'spare' spirit still sits between the wash still and the spirit still that is used. The wash still is a traditional onion shaped still with a capacity of 25,000 litres, the spirit still similar, but a little smaller at 12,000 litres capacity. When we visited the distillery was more or less running at full capacity of circa 1 million litres a year, so it is one of our smaller distilleries in terms of capacity. There's very little room to expand, but if the missing wash still was replaced I guess production could be increased.

The 12,000 litre Spirit Still

The spirit collected is tankered away for cask filling and although there is on-site dunnage the majority of the maturing stocks is held offsite. 

Kenny reflected in the Spirit Safe

Our visit included a trip into one of the four warehouses where some 8,000 casks lie maturing. This was something I was really looking forward to, having heard so much about the 'Angels Share' and it certainly didn't disappoint. The heady aroma of maturing Whisky combined with the whisky soaked oak barrels and cool damp earthiness is just sublime!

Traditional dunnage at Glen Garioch - the smell in here should be bottled

There's an opportunity to fill your own bottle straight from a cask in the warehouse. It was the first time I'd handled a valinch, but managed to fill the glass beaker without making a mess, or without bringing too much of the charred oak that lies in the bottom of a cask.. When we visited the 'fill-your-own' was a 1999 ex-bourbon cask (cask number 2907) that was filled on the 27th November. Once bottled you get to label your bottle and each is individually numbered, mine being No.100, bottle on 6th September 2013. I haven't opened it yet, but will be soon I'm sure.

Back in the visitor centre there are a selection of their current range to taste from their core staples, Founders Reserve and 12 Year Old, to some of their vintage releases. I have both the Founders Reserve and the 12 Year Old on my shelf, with the 12 Year Old my favourite of the two. Of the vintages I've tried, the 1986 is a stand out dram, although slightly above my budget, and the 1995 is just superb, although scarce now. I recently added a bottle of their 1999 Sherry Cask Matured vintage to my shelf having finished the 1995 vintage

Glen Garioch is certainly well worth a visit, and being just 30 minutes away from Aberdeen , and 'on the way' to Speyside it must be in your plans! I'm hoping to be able to return there soon, I'd love to spend time there to really get under the skin of the team. Whisky is about the people, and everyone we met at Glen Garioch are passionate about what they do. In addition to that, Oldmeldrum is a lovely Aberdeenshire town which has grown up and around the distillery and visitor centre making it truly part of the community.

If you've not been there yet, do something about it, you won't be disappointed

My single cask bottle, No.100 from 1999 Vintage Cask No.2907

I've tasted quite a few of the Distillery releases as well as a couple of independent bottlings. I have (or have had) the following on my drinking shelf; Founders Reserve, 12 Year Old, 1995 Vintage, 1999 Vintage and my 1999 single cask that I filled myself.

CORE RANGE

Glen Garioch 1797 Founder’s Reserve 48% ABV (Whisky Discovery No.216)

Glen Garioch 12 Years Old 48% ABV (Whisky Discovery No.453)

VINTAGES

Glen Garioch Virgin Oak 48% ABV (Whisky Discovery No.455)

Glen Garioch 1978 57.8% ABV

Glen Garioch 1986 54.6% ABV (Whisky Discovery No.455)

Glen Garioch 1990 54.6% ABV.

Glen Garioch 1991 54.7% ABV.

Glen Garioch 1994 53.9% ABV.

Glen Garioch 1995 55.3% ABV (Whisky Discovery No.454)

Glen Garioch 1997 56.7% ABV

Glen Garioch 1998 56.7% ABV French Oak Matured (Whisky Discovery No.780)

Glen Garioch 1999 56.3% ABV Sherry Cask Matured (Whisky Discovery No.529)

A visit to St George’s Distillery

I first found out about St George’s Distillery at the end of 2011 while reading some articles on the excellent whisky social network website Connosr.  It is the closest distillery to my home and at 77 miles door to door seemed like the perfect candidate for being my first. After finding out a little more about the distillery I contacted them over the Christmas holidays to see if they were running any tasting tours over New Year. Unfortunately they weren’t, so I planned to make my visit to them in March when I hoped the weather would be more settled.

I have read that England used to have a handful of whisky distilleries, and four were listed in the book ‘The Whisky Distilleries of the United Kingdom’ by Alfred Barnard published in 1887;

·         Vauxhall Distillery in Liverpool, founded in 1781 and closed very early in the 20th century.

·         Bank Hall, another Liverpudlian distillery, produced grain and malt whisky.

·         Bristol Distillery founded in the 17th century, and

·         Lea Valley was located in Stratford, London, produced both grain and malt whisky founded in the late 19th century and appears to have closed by 1910

Therefore the founding of St George's Distillery is the first to be operational for around one hundred years. 

The Distillery entrance

So on the first weekend of March we drove to Norfolk to visit St George’s Distillery. The distillery was easy to find located just off the A11 just to the East of Thetford, and very well sign posted. We arrived a around 11:25am and I was expecting to have to wait until the midday tour commenced but we were immediately welcomed by David Cott, one of the tour guides, Judy, who manages the visitor centre, and Joy who volunteered to take us on our own personal tour to save us waiting around.

We were whisked up the grand staircase into the conference room and served coffee while we watched a short video about the distillery and a brief insight into how whisky is made. Joy then explained a little about the history of the distillery and how it all came about. We were shown two variants of the barley that was used, and could easily tell the peated one. All of their malted barley comes from Crisps of Fakenham, just 40 miles away, their yeast from AB Mouri in Hull and water is pumped from under their feet from the Breckland aquifer.

The English Whisky Company was founded by the Nelstrop family, in Roudham in Norfolk. Andrew is Managing Director, but the audacious plan was dreamt up as a retirement plan by his father James, a grain farmer.

On turning 60, James did not wish to retire but to do something different, tied into farming. With his son Andrew they decided to investigate a subject close to James’s heart – whisky production, which had stopped in England over 100 years ago. Some of the best barley is grown in Norfolk and the Breckland water is superb. Several concepts were considered, a great deal of research was done in Scotland, Ireland and Wales and in October 2005 a planning application was submitted with approval granted on 10th January 2006.

Although the initial idea was for a micro distillery, customs and excise wouldn’t consider anything smaller than 1800 litre stills. So, in a field they owned down by the River Thet, the footings were dug and the building work began with Andrew at the helm as main contractor.

They managed to persuade Iain Henderson, a distiller of some note from Laphroaig, out of retirement and to help get them going. Iain has since retired again, but before he did, he spent 4 months training David Fitt, a brewer from Greene King to take over. David is now distillery manager and is also responsible for making a superb whisky spirit.

The distillery was opened by HRH Prince Charles and produced its first 'run' on 12th December 2006 and by the end of the month had filled their first 29 barrels

In August 2007 the distillery was opened to the public with a visitor centre, a fantastic whisky shop and tours commenced.

From the conference room we were led straight into the immaculate still room. We were shown the copper topped Mash Tun, the three stainless steel Washbacks as well as the all important copper ‘pot’ stills. The distillery was not working on the Saturday we visited but the middle Washback was filled with a two day old wash that would be distilled on the following Monday.

Joy explained the distillation process and showed us the wash and spirit stills, as well as the all important spirit safe along with a little of the history of its existence. Although I had already done my homework on whisky making it was still fascinating and my wife found it all very interesting.

The Still room with the Mash Tun in the foreground, the wash still to the left and spirit still to the right

From the still room we were led underneath to where the water is pumped into the Mash Tun. The water comes from a 50m deep bore hole on the property (you will notice a small wooden shed on the front lawn – this covers the bore hole). The position of the bore hole to the Breckland aquifer was found using water diviners.

We then moved onto where barrels are filled. All barrels are American Oak bourbon casks and come from Jim Beam. It was here we were invited to try the new make spirit. My wife declined, but I wasn't going to miss this opportunity. It really was an amazing experience to taste this raw malt spirit, straight from the still.

nearly 2000 casks maturing

The whisky is batch made by hand with no computers, matured in fine casks, bottled on site using their own water, is natural coloured, non chill-filtered and all bottled at a respectable 46% abv as standard. (unless cask strength, of course)

Since the original distillations back in 2006, nearly 2000 casks have been filled which are all maturing in their on site warehouses. The distillery creates unpeated and peated whisky, as well as having a rolling program of cask trials.

Tasting Treats

At the end of the tour we got a chance to taste the fruits of their labour, and were presented with a small tot of each of their current core expressions, all three year old malts. We started with Chapter 6 and moved on to Chapter 9 and finished with Chapter 11. My wife, not being a whisky drinker, did try the Chapter 6 and although liked the nose passed her samples onto me.

We then tried some of the other products they have introduced; their Blackberry Liqueur, Norfolk Cream, made with English malt spirit and cream, Norfolk Nog, made with English malt spirit, cream and honey and St. George's Pedro Ximenez sherry, a sherry fortified with English malt spirit, which were also enjoyed.

They have an impressive collection of whisky from around the world in their shop, but I definitely wanted to buy a distillery bottling and eventually decided to start with a Chapter 6, knowing that I will be going back in the not to distant future to get something else. We also picked up a bottle of Norfolk Cream for my wife and her friends, as an alternative to the Irish cream they occasionally enjoy.

We had a great day out at the St George’s Distillery and thoroughly recommend a visit. The tour took lasted around an hour and was very good value at £5.00 each. I’m already planning another visit as I want to see the distillery in operation. If my numbers come up on the lottery I might even start my own!

The core expressions, Chapters 6, 9, 11 and cask strength 11 

Release’s to date:

Chapter 1:         New Make Spirit, straight from the stills with a little water added bringing to 46%

Chapter 2:         New make Spirit again, but from the peated malt

Chapter 3:         18 month single malt spirit, bottled at 46%

Chapter 4:         18 month single malt spirit, peated, bottled at 46%

Chapter 5:         The first English Single Malt Whisky, a limited Edition 3 Year Old bottling (now sold out)

Chapter 6:         Classic Single Malt Whisky, matured solely in ex-bourbon casks, bottled at 46%

Chapter 7:         Rum Cask Single Malt Whisky, spending the last 6 months in rum casks, bottled at 46%

Chapter 8:         The first Peated English Single Malt Whisky, a limited Edition 3 Year Old bottling (now sold out)

Chapter 9:         Peated Single Malt Whisky, matured solely in ex-bourbon casks, bottled at 46%

Chapter 10:       Sherry Cask Single Malt Whisky, bottled at 46%

Chapter 11:       Heavily Peated Single Malt Whisky, matured solely in ex-bourbon casks, available at 46% and cask Strength introduced in July 2011

In addition two special bottlings have been released:

Founders Private Cellar. A limited edition drawn from a single cask and bottled at cask strength in a decanter presented in a wood case

Royal Wedding Commemorative Whisky, a limited editions created for the marriage of Prince William and Catherine Middleton.

Contact details:

St. George's Distillery

Harling Road, Roudham

Norfolk NR16 2QW

T: 01953 717939

W: www.englishwhisky.co.uk

            E: info@englishwhisky.co.uk