Aultmore 12 Year

Nose: Fresh, crisp fruity and cereal aromas. Delightfully spritzy and clean with a light citrus top-note. Fresh, sweet grassy hay-like tones along with definite apple and pear, a little banana and a dash of salted vanilla. The more you nose it the more you notice the deeper aromas of sweet malt. Palate: Sweet and fruity cereal arrival, just like the first notes on the nose. A subtle development at first, mainly showing some deeper and very mildly spiced honeyed tones, but this quickly evolves a crisp, bright, almost fizzy note that is a combination of ginger spice and citrus. There's some orange, sweet pineapple and the texture is silken and very pleasing. There is a mild mineral salt taste throughout that is exquisite. Adding a dash of water tones down the bright spices and develops more sweetness. Finish: Medium/short. Crystal clear cereal sugars and malt slide into the sweet aftertaste. This is the first time I can recall tasting Aultmore, and I understand it was unavailable as an original bottling for a long time. What a crime! It's a lovely, fresh, and beautifully clean whisky. There is an elusive note that is almost but not quite like smoke. When I first nosed it (straight from the bottle, ahem) I thought it might be lightly peated. It's not, but there is some sort of earthy presence lurking in the background. However the predominant characteristic is its almost clinically clean profile centered on sweet, light, fruity malt combined with very brisk lemon and ginger. There is a facet to this that is very much like a high quality blend (I believe this is a component of Dewer's blends) and another that is reminiscent of light, estery malts in general. It's not a million miles away from Arran, and a little like Linkwood as well, but it lacks the deeper sweet notes of either. I really liked it. It's not a huge or complex whisky and sherry-bomb fans should probably stay away, but I could happily choose this as a go-to dram. It also ticks all the right boxes - good proof, no colour added, not chill-filtered. Well done. As an introductory whisky for novices it beats Glenfiddich 12 and all the other usual choices hands down, although some palates will definitely prefer it slightly watered. It's a delightful dram and I'm finding it hard to resist giving it 4 stars. Given the very reasonable price this is highly recommended. "Good" : 84/100 (3.75 stars)

Nose: Sweet green apples, pine, and a hint of pepper. Taste: A sweet malty complexity takes hold of the initial taste with vanilla, lavender, and a bit of light green apple immediately taking over. This transitions into a black pepper spice and a fade into light, sweet oak with a hint of juniper and spearmint. The ethanol doesn't appear to have been tamed very well. This spirit is very thin and very light. The finish is long, but a bit astringent and bitter. Notes: I prefer the heavier, bolder flavors in scotch, but that is not necessarily what I look for in a Speyside. I'm not in love with the lack of tamed ethanol, but the price, complexity, and integrity are high compared to some of the single malts coming out of this region. This is non chill-filtered and natural color at 46%. This is by far my favorite Speyside so far, and I would recommend this as a Scotch to convert a gin lover.

Another Speyside I have neglected to try despite seeing everywhere. Nose has sweet malt, pears simmered in baking spices and some toasty wood notes. Its a little hot coming off the glass but settles down. Palate is bright but bursting with flavor. Pears and apple with heather and more malt. Its juicy and deep but the heat interferes a bit. Fruit skins and light char oak with fading malt on finish. It does flirt with bitter on back end but doesn't hook up. Classic Speyside expectations are realized here and Foggie takes down a lot of its competition. Its a solid quality scotch and I would repurchase but its let down by the sizzle just a tad and I recently finished off Cragganmore 12 which is better so.......88/100 just shy of 4 star......Im betting the 18 is wonderful so I will probably go there next for this distillery

Glencadam 10 deservedly gets a lot of hype, while Aultmore is vastly overlooked and neglected as a summertime dram. I find that strange. The nose is delicate, clean and slightly floral, leaning towards green apples, honeycomb and soft spices. Lemon peel, unripe pears and hints of marzipan appear. On the palate, sweet and sour notes of pineapple, honey and lime juice give way to gingery, grassy and mildly bitter flavors. Grapefruit zest, nutmeg and coffee carry over into the crisp and cask-dominated finish. A hidden gem that is well worth a try! RATING: 3.5/5.0 stars ≙ 84 pts → ABOVE AVERAGE

Nose: green melon, lemon and fresh grass Taste: Very light on the taste, notes of spice, lemon drops, sharper as it lands on the back of the tongue warm. Finish: finish is medium in length, with notes of black tea and milk, smidgen of black pepper and cantaloupe My first time trying it, I was not a fan, my tasting order got in the way and made this seem bland. This is a light scotch for those who don't like to be punched too hard. Their word "foggy" is a good way to describe it

N: light and misty. Some gentle peat, spicy pepper, salty seaside air, something like rose, and a hint of cacao P: apple and orchard fruits, some more light peat and salt, milk chocolate. F: vanilla and chocolate, but on the medium short side. Delightful. The gentle sweetness, light peat and smoke, subtle fruit make this an elegant and refined dram