Aultmore Distillery, Keith: The Foggie Moss Malt

Overview

Aultmore (from the Gaelic An t-Allt Mòr, “the big burn”) is a Speyside distillery in the open country just north of Keith. It was founded in 1895 by Alexander Edward, then owner of Benrinnes. Its story runs through the great whisky crash of 1899 and pioneering work on cattle feed from distillery waste. It now belongs to John Dewar & Sons (Bacardi). Its fresh, grassy malt is prized by blenders, and Dewar’s sells it as a single malt.

Where it is

The distillery is on the B9016 about 2.5 miles north of Keith, on the road to Buckie and the coast. Elgin is about 15 miles west. Around it is the high, rather bleak moorland of the Foggie Moss, which Dewar’s uses in the whisky’s story.

The full history

1895: Alexander Edward

Alexander Edward was one of the great distillery builders of the Victorian boom. He owned Benrinnes and was involved in founding Craigellachie. He built Aultmore in 1895, using the Auchinderran Burn. At first the distillery was powered by a water wheel, then by a steam engine that ran for about 70 years. Demand was so strong that output was doubled in 1898.

The Pattison crash

In 1899 the Leith blending firm Pattisons, which owned Aultmore, collapsed in a scandal that brought down the whole whisky boom. Aultmore closed. It reopened around 1904, then closed again during the First World War because of barley shortages.

Dewar’s, DCL and Bacardi

In 1923 John Dewar & Sons bought Aultmore. Two years later Dewar’s joined the Distillers Company, and from 1930 the distillery was run by Scottish Malt Distillers. In the 1950s Aultmore was one of the first distilleries to turn draff, the spent grain, into animal feed. Its floor maltings closed in 1968. It was rebuilt and expanded in 1970–71, and two extra stills were added. In 1998 Bacardi bought Dewar’s, and Aultmore came back to the Dewar’s name. The first official 12-year-old single malt was released in 2004.

How it’s made

Aultmore has two wash stills and two spirit stills, with a capacity of about 2.1 million litres a year. The spirit is light, fresh and grassy. Most of it goes into Dewar’s blends, and the rest is bottled as Aultmore single malt.

Clans & the land

• The Ogilvies held the lands around Keith and the coast to Cullen, as Earls of Findlater. Their Milton Tower stands in Keith.
• The Gordons, Dukes of Gordon, held great estates between the Spey and the coast. See Clan Gordon.
• The Duffs, Earls Fife, built Fife Keith and owned much of Banffshire.

Churches, moors & lochs

• Keith’s Auld Brig over the Isla, built in 1609.
• Deskford Church, near Cullen, has a richly carved sacrament house of 1551.
• Loch Park, near Drummuir, is the nearest loch, a wooded water at the head of the Isla. See our lochs guide.
• Mortlach Kirk, Dufftown, with its Pictish Battle Stone. See our standing stones guide.

The Pattison scandal

The fall of Pattisons Ltd is one of the great stories of Scotch whisky. The brothers Robert and Walter Pattison, blenders in Leith, rode the 1890s boom with lavish spending. Famously, they gave away hundreds of parrots trained to say “Drink Pattisons’ whisky”. Behind the show, the firm was propped up by inflated stock values and borrowing. When it collapsed in December 1898, it took creditors, blenders and distillers down with it, and confidence in the whole trade crashed. Both brothers were later jailed for fraud. The crash ended the Victorian distillery-building boom, and few new distilleries were built in Speyside for half a century.

Visiting

Aultmore is production only, with no visitor centre or tours. In Keith, Strathisla offers tours, and Dewar’s visitor centre is at Aberfeldy in Perthshire.

Nearby distilleries

• Strathisla, Strathmill and Glen Keith, Keith (about 2.5 miles).
• Glentauchers and Auchroisk (about 6 miles).
• Inchgower, Buckie (about 9 miles).
• Benrinnes: Alexander Edward’s other distillery.

The Speyside Whisky Trail and the whisky hub cover the region.

Sources

• Aultmore distillery — Wikipedia.
• John Dewar & Sons / Bacardi.