Aultmore distillery is a whisky distillery in

Keith, Moray Keith (Scottish Gaelic: ''Baile Chèith'', or ''Cèith Mhaol Rubha'' (archaic)) is a small town in the Moray council area in north east Scotland. It has a population of 4,734. Keith is historically in Banffshire, a name which persists in c ...

, producing an eponymous

single malt whisky Single malt whisky is malt whisky from a single Distillation, distillery. Single malts are typically associated with single malt Scotch, though they are also produced in various other countries. Under the United Kingdom's Scotch Whisky Regulat ...

. Its name is a derived from the phrase ''An t-Allt Mòr'',

Gaelic Gaelic (pronounced for Irish Gaelic and for Scots Gaelic) is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". It may refer to: Languages * Gaelic languages or Goidelic languages, a linguistic group that is one of the two branches of the Insul ...

for big burn, referring to its water source the Auchinderran burn.

History

Aultmore distillery was founded in 1895 by Alexander Edward, then owner of the Benrinnes distillery. The distillery was originally powered by a

waterwheel A water wheel is a machine for converting the kinetic energy of flowing or falling water into useful forms of power, often in a watermill. A water wheel consists of a large wheel (usually constructed from wood or metal), with numerous blade ...

, and was soon adapted to use a steam engine instead, which ran day and night for 70 years, apart from maintenance. During maintenance hours power was provided by the mainly retired waterwheel. The steam engine is now on display at the distillery site. The distillery was expanded in 1898, and production doubled. In 1899 the distillery was owned by Pattisons which went bankrupt in that year. Production plummeted, and the distillery closed. Aultmore reopened around 1904, and closed again during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

due to barley shortages It reopened again after World War I ended, and was bought by John Dewar & Sons, Ltd. in 1923. Shortly thereafter, in 1925, it was bought by Distiller Company. It changed hands again in 1930, when it was bought by Scottish Malt Distillers. The distillery was in the 1950s one of the first to use the draff, a wasteproduct of whisky production, as animal feed. The distillery's malting floors closed in 1968 and the entire distillery was rebuilt and expanded in 1970. A new spirit still and wash still were placed in addition to the two stills that were already present, and Aultmore Reopened in 1971. In 1998 the distillery was sold back to Bacardi subsidiary Dewars, which had previously owned Aultmore between 1923 and 1925. Aultmore produced their first official bottling, a 12-year-old, in 2004, after an earlier

flora and fauna An organism is any living thing that functions as an individual. Such a definition raises more problems than it solves, not least because the concept of an individual is also difficult. Many criteria, few of them widely accepted, have been pro ...

release, and an earlier rare malts release.

References

{{Authority control John Dewar & Sons Bacardi Distilleries in Scotland Speyside area distilleries Scottish malt whisky Food and drink companies established in 1895 1895 establishments in Scotland Keith, Moray