Saturday 21 January 2017

TGIF: Aultmore 11 yo WM, Dalwhinnie 25 yo and Glen Ord 15 yo Clydesdale

Thanks God it's Friday and I can drop in on local whisky Mecca and have a few new drams tonight. 

Aultmore 11 yo 1989/2000 WM 46% - quite old bottling of Aultmore (Gaelic for 'big burn'), I'm not totally sure, but it seems to be my first Aultmore ever tasted.

One fact about Aultmore to stay in mind (hopefully): "since 1996 freshly distilled Aultmore whisky is not matured at the distillery site any more. In fact, none of the malt whisky distilleries that are owned by Bacardi / John Dewar's & Sons have any on-site warehouses left. In 2016 those distilleries were Aberfeldy, Aultmore, Craigellachie, MacDuff / Glen Deveron and (Royal) Brackla."

Nose: apples in sugar powder and sweet bakery. Sherry isn't obvious at all here. 

Taste: quite dense, oily and fruity. 

Finish: long on spices and fruits, slight bitterness in the end. 

Overall: lovely fruity and oily Speysider getting unexpectedly high mark for a 11 yo malt from "Cinquième Cru Classé" distillery (classified by Serge the Great and Powerful). Thanks to Konstantin for sharing this bottle tonight!

Score = 21 22 21 22, 86/100!

Aultmore 11 yo 1989/2000 WM 46%

Dalwhinnie 25 yo Diageo Special Release 1987/2012 52.1% - cask strength, nice age, limited run of 5358 bottles, all preconditions for a good dram.

After becoming one of Six Classic Malts of Diageo in 1988 the distillery gained popularity and became the 4-th Diageo single malt by sales after  Cardhu, Talisker and Lagavulin (2011 data). Still struggles with Braeval for being the highest one in Scotland (both are located appr. 355 m above sea level).

Nose: sweet, elegant sherry, fresh grapes, some grassiness after a while. 

Taste: sweet honey on top of a fruit cakes, touches of oak, very refined.

Finish: long, warm, a bit waxy and spicy. 

Overall: excellent Highlander with great balance. Can sit with it for an hour. 

Score = 22 23 22 22, 89/100!

Dalwhinnie 25 yo Diageo Special Release 1987/2012 52.1%


Glen Ord 15 yo Clydesdale cask #CO389 57.2% - even official Glen Ord you don't meet every day.

The fact to remember: only 10 - 15% of distillery production is used for single malts, the rest goes to blends (Dewar’s and Johnnie Walker mainly). 

Nose: propolis and honey pollen, very fresh, even a bit sharp in its freshness. 

Taste: holy sweet oils!! Creamy, a bit lemony with umami note, powerful and convincing.

Finish: long and oily. 

Overall: surprisingly good rare stuff, not a single idea where Alexander grabbed it but I'm sending him waves of good :)

Score = 21 22 22 22, 87/100!

Glen Ord 15 yo Clydesdale cask #CO389 57.2%

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