Aultmore 6 Year Old 2007 Kintra

Aultmore is one of those noble unknows Scotches, hardly available as a single malt. The distillery lies just north of Keith and is the fingerprint malt for Dewar’s whisky, a popular blend. I do not have a lot of experience with Aultmore. In all the years that I have been sipping whisky, this is only my third. A very young animal, by the way, just six years old. Distilled in May 2007 and bottled in January 2014 by Kintra Whisky, the Dutch bottler run by Erik Molenaar.

The nose offers sweet malt, something that reminds me of chalk, some dark fruit and tobacco. The dark fruit is raisins, caramelized oranges and some apricots. It also has something that makes me think of wood glue, but far from disturbing. A bit of cinnamon and something floral. After a few moments, I am even reminded of rum. All of this is very soft, to be honest.

The arrival is rather watery, unfortunately. Loads of alcohol, though. Again that chemical edge of wood glue. Midpalate it gets better and offers again nice touches of raisins, apricots, lemongrass and some lime. A mild bitterness emerges. Grapefruit? Then turns somewhat buttery.

The finish is fairly long on vanilla and cinnamon, but not a lot of fruit survives.

Very nice nose, but unfortunately the Aultmore cannot keep it up on the palate and in the finish. The chemical edge is just a little too much for me.

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