AULTMORE Launches The Cask Finish Collection – A New Travel Retail Exclusive
HAMILTON, BERMUDA July 2024, AULTMORE® Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky has launched The Cask Finish Collection – a new travel retail exclusive.
Established by Alexander Edward in 1897, AULTMORE distillery sits in the sweeping hills of Moray, on the road to Buckie. A Single Malt renowned for its ethereal character, ‘Speyside’s Best Kept Secret’ is prized for its purity and finely balanced quality of its spirit.
The AULTMORE Cask Finish Collection is a development of the existing global travel retail range, with a move to different cask finishes for each expression, as well as smaller, more giftable 50cl bottles and plastic-free packaging.
The collection presents a new flavour perspective on the nuanced spirit of AULTMORE. Intrigued by the impact of finishing such a delicate whisky, Malt Master Stephanie Macleod and the blending team have crafted a mirrored image of the distillery’s core range, choosing a different cask type and finish for each age statement to enhance and complement the much-revered light, herbal, grassy character of AULTMORE and not mask it.
The AULTMORE Cask Finish Collection is composed of a 12-, 18-, 21- and 25-year- old, the primary cask type for all four whiskies are refill hogshead and barrels. The 12-year-old is finished in second-fill Oloroso Sherry casks which impart soft, creamy toffee notes. The 18-year-old is finished in second-fill Madeira wine casks, delivering exotic fruit aromas and a hint of dry spice. The 21-year-old boasts a finish in second-fill Calvados brandy casks and is full of apple and toasted almond notes. The 25-year-old, which recently won the International Whisky Competition’s Whisky of the Year award, offers intense tropical notes, beeswax and spice, having been finished in rich first-fill Oloroso Sherry casks. As well as being interested in different finishing cask types for this collection Stephanie was also intrigued by the impact of second-fill casks versus first-fill casks, which is demonstrated in the 12- and 25-year-old expressions.
“AULTMORE is usually all about heralding its spirits and the wood, with little intervention,” says Malt Master Stephanie Macleod. “This collection takes a different approach and shows AULTMORE in a contrasting light, while still allowing the distillery’s character to shine through.”
All four whiskies in The AULTMORE Cask Finish Collection are bottled at 46% ABV, are non-chill-filtered and have natural colour. The move to a smaller 50cl bottle size makes for a more collectable, giftable set and easy-to-carry size, while allowing for wider travel retail distribution.
The new collection has fully recyclable secondary packaging and a new tin seal on the bottle, making the packaging entirely plastic free, in keeping with Bacardi’s global sustainability commitments.
Launching from June in the UK and IMEA, and then later in the year in APAC, the RRP for each respective whisky is: 12 Years Old: $58; 18 Years Old: $170; 21 Years Old: $250; 25 Years Old: $500.
www.Aultmore.com
TASTING NOTES:
AULTMORE® Cask Finish Collection 12 Year Old 2nd Fill Oloroso Finish:
“Elegant and floral with summer fruits and soft creamy toffee notes with hints of cinnamon.”
AULTMORE® Cask Finish Collection 18 Year Old 2nd Fill Madeira Finish:
“Freshly mown grass, accompanied by sun-ripened red cherries with a twist of orange peel and dry spice on the finish.”
AULTMORE® Cask Finish Collection 21 Year Old 2nd Fill Calvados Finish:
“Fragrant, flowering apple orchards alongside almonds and delicate oaky notes.”
AULTMORE® Cask Finish Collection 21 Year Old 1st Fill Oloroso Finish:
“Balanced and complex with fresh figs, sultanas and dried tropical fruits mingling with hints of beeswax and cinnamon spice.”
About AULTMORE Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Founded in 1896 by one of Scotland’s oldest and best-known distillers, Alexander Edward, the distillery lies in the hills of Moray, on the road to Buckie.
Aultmore draws its water from the damp atmospheric area known as the Foggie Moss, famed for its purifying qualities; it provides the gorse and heather filtered waters that give a refined character to the spirit.
The brand’s core portfolio is comprised of AULTMORE 12 Years Old, AULTMORE 18 Years and AULTMORE 21 Years Old.
The Single Malt brand of AULTMORE is part of the portfolio of Bacardi Limited, headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda. Bacardi Limited refers to the Bacardi group of companies, including Bacardi International Limited.
