Aultmore : 15 Year Old Refill American Hogshead Connoisseurs Choice Gordon & MacPhail 2009

Tasting notes and characteristics of the Aultmore 15 Years Old Refill American Hogshead Connoisseurs Choice Gordon & MacPhail 2009

Tasting

Appearance
Displaying a beautiful natural hue ranging from gold to old gold with subtle amber highlights, this whisky derives its colour exclusively from prolonged contact with the American oak cask, without any added colouring.

Nose
Intensely fruity and bright, the nose opens with a lively burst of citrus and lemon zest. It quickly evolves towards indulgent notes of apricot jam, melon and ripe banana. Subtle floral touches of broom intertwine with sweet vanilla and discreet oak, enhanced by a hint of ginger.

Palate
The attack is rich, intense and smooth, carried by a honeyed sweetness. The palate unfolds a generous basket of tropical fruits (mango, pineapple, banana) and baked apple, sublimated by creamy vanilla and delicate candied violets. The long, warming finish prolongs these exotic notes while giving way to spicy, savoury oak.

Pairings and tasting occasions
This complex single malt is ideally enjoyed at the end of a meal, neat or with a few drops of water to release the full range of its aromatic nuances. From a gastronomic standpoint, it pairs wonderfully with lightly sweetened fruity desserts, such as a mango or apricot tart, as well as with lightly matured hard cheeses, whose saltiness will provide a striking contrast with its roundness.

Mixology
As this is an exceptional and extremely rare product, we recommend enjoying it neat, without embellishment. Although its aromatic power could theoretically elevate an Old Fashioned or a reinvented Whisky Sour, its primary calling remains neat tasting.

Other characteristics
This single malt is unpeated. Bottled at its natural strength of 57.3% vol, it has not undergone any cold filtration, thereby preserving the full integrity of its natural oils, creamy texture and aromatic richness.

A Scottish Single Malt of great purity and intense fruitiness

The Aultmore distillery: a discreet jewel of Speyside
Founded in 1896 by Alexander Edward in the Speyside region, the Aultmore distillery is a historic player in Scottish whisky production. Located near Keith, it draws its water from the marshy area of Foggie Moss, naturally filtered by heather and broom. Its production equipment is distinguished by the use of four tall stills paired with traditional worm tub condensers. This unique configuration, combined with unpeated barley, shapes Aultmore's identity: a distillate of great purity, at once herbaceous, fruity and endowed with a beautiful texture. Owned by the Bacardi group through its subsidiary John Dewar & Sons since 1998, the distillery has historically devoted the majority of its production to the famous Dewar's blends, while now revealing itself to connoisseurs under its own name.

The unique expression of an exceptional cask
This exceptional Single Malt is the result of the expertise of the renowned independent bottler Gordon & MacPhail. Distilled in 2009, the 15 Years Old Refill American Hogshead Connoisseurs Choice Gordon & MacPhail benefited from a long and meticulous maturation in a single American oak cask (cask number 4679) that had previously held bourbon.

Bottled in 2025, this highly limited edition is a rare piece for collectors and discerning spirits enthusiasts. The Connoisseurs Choice range, created in 1968, is renowned for its transparency and exacting standards: it showcases unprecedented single-cask expressions, with no added colouring or cold filtration.

Presented in an elegant case, this Scottish whisky perfectly illustrates the encounter between the distillery's pure, herbaceous distillate and the indulgent influence of American oak. The absence of reduction before bottling allows the very essence of the cask to be captured, offering an authentic and uncompromising tasting experience.