I have been wanting to try an Aultmore for the longest time and this Maltbarn single cask bottling appeared on auction locally. I won this for under retail, which I was pleasantly surprised especially compared to the scarce and overpriced OBs, and the general reputation for Aultmore to be on the higher end of pricing.

Tasting Notes

Nose: Harsh notes of copy paper and isopropyl alcohol at first. After 10 minutes exposed to air, oak sawdust, tea steeped for too long, persimmon, mushy overripe apples, a very slight hint of Haribo gummies - specifically the pineapple-flavoured Roulette gummies and the cola gummies, cloves. A brie cheese note appears after 20 minutes. However the overriding oak and ethanol notes never quite fade, with everything else rather muted in comparison.

Palate: Texture slightly on the thin side for 50.7% ABV, warming, prickly and just short of hot. Oak spice is very upfront , but surprisingly just very slightly tannic. With chewing, I get sour cream, starfruit, nutmeg with some coconut cream drizzled with molasses right at the end.

Finish: Moderate, fades very quickly to a fairly long tail, mostly malt, kumquats, mushy apples, vanilla, creme caramel, light hint of coconut flakes and avocado, sencha pops up at the end, the barest hint of Okinawan brown sugar steamed cakes.

I think there's a fair bit to like but also several small flaws that detract from the overall experience. I like the Haribo and brie notes, distinctive and fun, but I wished they were a lot stronger because this was very oaked on the nose. The palate also has a generic quality to it where it is discernibly Scotch whisky (with good presentation) but one struggles to perceive individual notes and the sequence. I think the finish leaves the strongest impression but unfortunately, as with the nose, the best notes - I liked the sencha and Okinawan brown sugar cake note - are especially muted. I think this needs more complexity on the palate and a whole lot more balance on the nose and finish. A regrettable 82 for me.

H.Y.