The History

In 1895 the Aultmore distillery was founded by Alexander Edward, one of the big distillery owners during the late 1800’s. He was the same man that also founded distilleries such as Benrinnes and Craigellachie. The Aultmore is beautifully isolated in a perfect location off an infamous route that runs from a fishing port to Keith. It had to close during World War I due to the rationing of supplies. After the war was over and it reopened, in 1923 John Dewar & Sons purchased the distillery. Since then it changed hands a few times before ending back up in the control of John Dewar & Sons.

Aultmore is one of the most treasured parts to the Dewar blends, so much so that Bacardi were happy to walk away from a deal that didn’t include Aultmore, during the process of acquiring Dewar’s from Diageo. Once purchased Bacardi handed control back to John Dewar & Sons.

The Whisky

If you ever find yourself close to the Aultmore distillery, you will hear locals asking for ‘a nip of the Buckie road’ which is referring to a dram of Aultmore and the distilleries’ location. Until 2014 the Aultmore distillery had no official bottlings therefore the unofficial bottling was the Flora & Fauna bottle. The relatively recent releases of their own single malt have drawn back the curtain on what the blenders at Aultmore had been hiding all these years. The Aultmore 12-year-old, which was released in December 2014, has similar characteristics to the Linkwood Distillery such as a substantial tongue and a fragrant nose.

You will also be able to find many independent bottlings of Aultmore which all have varying characteristics however, for the most part, Aultmore goes to the blend industry. The bulk of their produce is included in Dewar’s blend but another notable inclusion of Aultmore is Old Perth blended malt, whereby it is the main ingredient.