A focus on the Aultmore Distillery
let’s begin
Aultmore Distilery, known locally as “a nip of the buckie road”, was founded in 1896 by Alexander Edward. It is located in the Speyside region of Scotland and today it is owned by Dewar’s.
Uneasy Beginnings for Aultmore Distillery
Edward already had experience with distilling, having owned the Benrinnes Distillery and later buying Oban in 1898 as well. Aultmore Distillery was his next adventure.
It would seem times were good for Edward and his burgeoning Whisky empire. However, in December of 1898, his empire would crumble, along with many other Whisky enterprises.
Due to the Pattison Crash Aultmore was forced to close. Leading up to this moment in history there had been a growing demand for Whisky. With the crash, however, demand reduced and it became a difficult economy for many distilleries.
Barley Shortages
Aultmore was one such distillery and shut its doors until 1903. Its reopened but was once again forced into closure a mere decade later, when the First World War resulted in barley shortages.
This meant that Whisky production was more or less halted completely and Aultmore once again had to shut its doors.
It was not the only distillery to do this and many did not reopen after the war, but Aultmore was one of the lucky ones that did.
New Owners and an Eco-Friendly Outlook at the Aultmore Distillery
In 1923 the distillery was sold to John Dewar & Sons but it only remained with the company for two years. After this it was sold again to Distillers Company Ltd., who later became Diageo.
Whilst under Diageo’s guidance the distillery became one of only two that decided to turn the waste products from the distillation process, including pot ale and draff, into cattle feed.
Times looked good for Aultmore Distillery and they survived and few more ups and downs within the industry over the next few decades.
It was eventually sold once more to Bacardi, who bought several other distilleries that had historically belonged to Dewar’s. Rumour has it that Aultmore produces such fine malt for blending that the company would not accept any deal that didn’t include the distillery.
Today it is thriving and has recently been included as part of Dewar’s Malts Within collection.
Buy the Limited Edition Girvan 11 Year Old Single Cask Single Grain Scotch Whisky by clicking here
Greg
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