Whisky : Aultmore 18 Year SMWS 73.110 “Warm as a welcoming hug”

Country/Region : Speyside

ABV : 57.8%

Cask : 15Y Ex-Bourbon/ 3Y First Fill Oloroso Hogshead

Age : 18 Years (Distilled 8 Sept 2000)

Nose : Opens with the lovely aroma of rich dark chocolate and fig jam.  Sweet brown sugar, honey, and all-spice come forward with a meaty baking ham— spiral cut ham anyone?  The meatiness can be a bit like a hot dog with a line of sweet mustard and ketchup squeezed on top.  There is a bit of stink that hangs in the background— maybe a bit of sulfur, a bit of boiled egg, or Skunk Tree.    

Palate : Bold tobacco, coffee, and cocoa open things up before prominent cherry notes assert themselves.  It is somewhere between a cherry cordial, a cherry coke, or a cherry flavored hard candy.  The body is rich, thick, and slightly astringent.  It is a wonderfully bold and easy drinking.

Finish : Long lingering cherries, smoldering coals, and sweet spices.

Score : 6

Mental Image : Fruit Rollup Baked Ham

Something Better : Glenallachie 7Y SMWS 107.16 (similar Oloroso influence, more creamy malt)

Something Similar : Glendronach 12Y (more rich spice, less body, similar cherry/fruit profile)

Something Worse : Kirkland Signature Speyside 20Y (similar jam, more oak spice/vanilla, shorter finish)

Notes : A lovely rich Aultmore finished in a quality Oloroso Hogshead.  This is far from my typical flavor profile, but the notes of cherries, coffee, tobacco and ham, as well as the beautiful viscosity of the dram, all come together so well.  There is just a slight bit of a stinky-bitter sulphur on the nose, but that little blemish adds character rather than ruining the experience.

A bit of water in the glass opens up more of the bright fruit notes taking the dram away from some of the tobacco and coffee and deeper into a cherry flavored candy or soda.  It was not unpleasant, but I did enjoy this dram a bit more at cask strength where the oily and thick quality of the body held a bit more weight.

This dram was quite the warm hug— something to warm you up after being in the cold.  Though in the end I was left imaging that this might be roughly what a ham wrapped in fruit roll-ups might taste like.  I am just not quite a fan of meat and sweet fruit.  I never use cranberry sauce on my turkey, though every year I try it just to see if this is the year I understand why people, my mother in law specifically, require fresh cranberry sauce at the Thanksgiving table.  If this dram had a tart edge to it, it could be like a cranberry sauce bursting with fruit, zest, and spice.  As is, it is the metaphorical cranberry sauce I never reach for except to experiment.