Aultmore distillery is one of Speyside’s large workhorse distilleries. The distillery is the biggest (if not the most well-known) of the Dewar's group of distilleries purchased by Bacardi from Diageo in 1998, which also includes the likes of Aberfeldy, Craigellachie and Royal Brackla.
The sale to Bacardi of the Dewar's brand, its associated distilleries and Bombay Sapphire gin was part of a deal with the British government and international regulators the previous year to win approval for the creation of the enormous drinks company now known as Diageo from the merger of Guinness and Grand Metropolitan.
Aultmore's single malt whisky is used by Bacardi primarily for their Dewar’s and William Lawson’s blends. Prior to the Bacardi purchase there were relatively few bottlings of Aultmore, although it did pop up intermittently both in official and independent forms. Nowadays, the official core range is well established and indie bottlings are much more common than in previous years.
Aultmore’s core range comprises a 12-year-old single malt whisky introduced in 2004, an 18-year-old that first appeared in 2015, and a 21-year-old added to the range in 2021. These are augmented by occasional limited releases and the inevitable travel retail editions. It is one of several distilleries that seems to be passed over by many whisky fans, which is a shame because it is often a very pleasant, quite muscular dram.
Aultmore Distillery
Founded: 1896
Stills: 3 Wash Stills, 3 Spirit Stills
Water Source: Auchinderran Burn and Foggie Moss
Capacity: 6 Million Litres
Owners: Bacardi
1950s-1971: Old and Waxy
Aultmore was completely refurbished in 1970-71, when the distillery was expanded from two to four stills. Although examples of the distillery’s whisky from before this rebuild are rare, they do pop up from time to time and they can be quite stunning drams. Official bottlings of Aultmore existed in the 1950s and surviving bottles display the most beautiful waxy, minerally and smoky profiles.
Obviously these early OBs are very rare and expensive bottlings nowadays, but they reveal a long lost style of Speyside/Highland whisky making at the Aultmore distillery: a difficult, unsexy and powerfully austere single malt whisky full of engine oil, green fruits, phenols and all kinds of candied fruit notes.
1971-Present: The Blending Monolith Years
During the 1970s rebuild, Aultmore’s stills were doubled to four and converted to internal heating, new condensers replaced the worm tubs and the whole plant was refitted in order to produce a massive amount of new single malt spirit for blending. The change in the character of the whisky is clearly evident, and Aultmore nowadays is a much softer, more classically Speyside whisky, full of muscular malty tones, some soft garden fruit qualities, pear drops and spicy sweetness.
Aultmore was upgraded again recently by Bacardi, with a 2024 expansion giving the distillery another pair of stills to bring the total number to six, and increasing Aultmore's distillery capacity to a whopping 6 million litres per year.
Beyond the core range, the best Aultmores to try are the official Exceptional Cask single cask series and the teenage or older independent expressions that pop up from time to time. There have also been some excellent long-aged examples from the indies this century, particularly from the 1974 vintage. Aultmore is a fun, drinkable whisky that has been slowly growing its profile and is always well worth tasting.