In 2014, John Dewar & Sons launched 'The Last Great Malts' Collection to highlight new expressions from distilleries within their portfolio. Over the past 3 years, bottlings from Aberfeldy, Aultmore, Craigellachie, The Deveron and Royal Bracka have been launched into markets across the world, as well as limited editions into travel retail.
Aultmore, known locally as 'the Buckie Road' is a fairly isolated distillery, oft-times surrounded by fog. Until very recently it was rarely seen in single malt form, being used extensively by Dewars within their blends. The introduction of the 'Last Great Malts' has breathed a new lease of single malt list into Aultmore with a full range of aged expression now available - 12, 25 & 30 and a travel exclusive in the form of the 21 year old.
Nose: Toffee apples and desiccated coconut wrapped up in a honey and vanilla blanket. Real herbal/floral note which reminds me of Turkish delight.
Taste: Good mouthfeel and an instant crème caramel. Raisins and orange blossom come to play with the aforementioned toffee apples and honey vanilla. The cask influence has reduced the floral notes and adds in a fairly heavy spicing which favours pepper. Earthiness which seems also like dusty old biscuits?!
Finish: Medium-long with again with the dusty biscuits and a fair whack of pepper
Solid, well made and balanced, the Aultmore 21 year old is probably not going to win any awards for complexity, but is entirely pleasant nonetheless. It's also fairly expensive, clocking at at £175 at an airport near you. At that price, unfortunately I really can't recommend it as a bottle purchase - however, if you get a chance to try a dram somewhere it's certainly worth 20 minutes of your time.