Built alongside a plethora of other well-known distilleries established or run by Sandy – Craigellachie, Dallas Dhu, Benrinnes – Aultmore is fairly unknown when it comes to single malts, with most of its three millions litres per annum production going into blends.

Today, the distillery is owned by John Dewar & Sons Ltd, whose parent company is Bacardi. In early 2015 the company included Aultmore in its launch of The Last Great Malts of Scotland portfolio, to bring more interest to this distillery.

Behind the scenes, blenders and local whisky lovers have long praised the distillery’s characteristics, with the illusive dram being known simply as ‘a nip of the Buckie road’ in reference to its location on the road to Buckie just north of Keith. The company’s decision to launch three single malts including a 12-year old, a 21-year old and a 25-year old in a limited number of global markets affirmed their faith in the quality of the whisky.