2026 release | 57.6% ABV
Score: 7/10
Very Good Indeed.
TL;DR
Sweet, yet wintry and almost Christmassy
AI: Here to help reduce the fun?
There was a video going viral recently. You may have seen it; a short clip of Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg struggling to get to grips with the first gulps of a pint of Guinness.
Why this clip made such an impact on the wider world I’m not too sure. A stout isn’t for everyone – and Mark has never given the impression that he was a particularly passionate drinker. Not to me, anyway.
However, something more interesting was happening in those few seconds. It was the conversation happening alongside that semi-entertaining image, involving Meta’s Chief AI Officer Alexandr Wang.
As Mark attempts to maintain composure over the bitter loveliness that is a Guinness, Wang can be heard explaining how he uses Meta’s AI system, Muse, to source peculiar teas for himself. He’s tasked it with finding obscure teas he’s never tried before, from retailers he would never have discovered himself. The system then automatically purchases and ships them to his door, meaning that a new tea experience is arriving at his home every week with little legwork required.
This got me thinking; how might that translate into the world of whisky geekery?
And would we want it to?
So much of our fun with this passion is in the research; the conversations and information we glean along the way. Looking back, I don’t think that I would have wanted that part of my journey stripped away and automated.
But are we reaching the point where this will become more commonplace?
What happens when we outsource the very thing that inspired us to become enthusiasts in the first place?
Thinking about it further, I think there are three parts of my whisky geekery experience worth separating;
The Hunt – Finding the bottles you actually want to buy. This is where you might discover an independent bottler you’ve never heard of, track down a bottle that seems cheaper than you’d expect for the distillery and vintage, find a new retailer with stock you thought was sold out everywhere…
AI could definitely make this easier – but at what cost? By making the hunt more efficient, might we blinker our own tastes – and might we miss out on the rabbit hole?
The Rabbit Hole – This is where you can get really geeky. You start browsing, or looking for a particular bottle, and end up learning about distillery history, an obscure production technique, a foreign import, or a piece of whisky history that you never knew. It’s the tipping point where the hunt becomes education. You weren't necessarily looking for that knowledge. You stumbled into it.
The Dram – The final piece: the bottle arrives. You open it. You taste it. You connect what you've learned with what's in the glass. Perhaps, discovering that your search, this time, has led you somewhere completely unexpected.
Therefore, if AI finds the bottle, researches its history, checks the price and orders it for you, have you removed a substantial part of the experience that made that bottle interesting in the first place?
Have we jumped straight to The Dram?
Or does the whole thing just generate a new starting point? Reverse engineering the process: bottle first – then the rabbit hole.
I am not anti-AI. Far from it.
I believe that when used with nuance and specificity – it can be supremely helpful.
And we whisky fans have been using technology to further our tasting journey for a long time now – recommendation engines, search engines, bottle aggregators – and online shopping, are just some examples.
It makes sense that AI will be the next step in this shift; however, what is different about this proposition is the possible delegation of the entire shopping process.
That is a very different relationship with a hobby.
If you have limited time, a high-pressure job and a family life that doesn't leave you with much time to browse whisky - there is a potential for it to be brilliant! However, in what sense are you discovering something new?
Whisky is a hobby in which the story of a bottle can be almost as compelling as the liquid itself - but is a happy marriage that began with a digital matchmaking service any less valuable?
I don’t think anyone would argue that we should abandon the internet and return to leafing through paper catalogues or dusty shelves in the hope of finding a ‘different’ bottling. The internet has expanded our horizons; it has made information accessible.
AI could be the next step in that evolution.
The challenge is distinguishing between easing the friction that gets in the way of the hobby – from the effort that gives a hobby meaning. Some research is tedious – some becomes the whole point of it.
The trouble is that they can look remarkably similar from the starting line. Sometimes, you don’t know which you are embroiled in until you’re finished.
You can follow a link, read a review, spot a distillery name, investigate a bottler, discover a forum that mentions something you’ve never heard of.
Suddenly, tedious becomes exciting…
Review
Aultmore 13yo, Whisky Craft, First-fill Bourbon, bottle #38 of 252, 57.6% ABV
£65 paid and still some availability
I first stumbled upon – and acquired – this bottle at the Fife Whisky Festival early in 2026.
In fact, it was actually my first taste of whisky from Whisky Craft as a brand. I was immediately impressed. Not just by this bottle, but also, by this Auchentoshan, which Ainsley has already covered so delightfully.
I shouldn’t feel too guilty about not having been more familiar with the brand’s offering already, given that it was only founded in 2025...
However, in such a short space of time, what’s evident is that Whisky Craft has already put some genuinely good whisky out into the world. This Aultmore is a strikingly gentle Speysider; particularly considering the hefty ABV and being fully matured in a first-fill bourbon barrel.
Score: 7/10
Very Good Indeed.
TL;DR
Sweet, yet wintry and almost Christmassy
Nose
The sweetness is immediately recognisable from the outset. This whisky, at first, is very sweet. Candied apples sit alongside apple strudel and waffles and syrup – creating an almost dessert-like experience. However, beneath that, notes of toasted almonds and amaretto add a nuttier dimension, with a touch of burnt white pepper that leaves its mark on the back of the throat.
Palate
The sweetness from the nose remains, however the fruit takes a backseat. Toffee, syrup and honey take more of a centre stage, with a really rich spice note emerging from beneath that sweetness as the whisky develops. It’s warming – almost Christmassy, evoking nights by a roaring fireplace. Towards the tail, there is a bitter charred oak coming through, but it never overdoes it, keeping the whisky from entering into the bitter category.
The Dregs
The finish lingers – staying with me long enough for me to recognise just how long it really was lasting. The sweetness is the first to fade, lasting a medium length before giving way to the pepper and oak. These continue at the back of the throat for what feels like a limitless period of time.
Add water, and the fruit is far more ramped up on the palate. What was unexpected though, was the introduction of a much more citrus character to the dram, with notes of orange zest and lime juice. However, with that added fruit, the trade-off is a slight increase in the bitterness of the oak finish clinging to the back of the throat. It is a case of adding water to find your own sweet spot between the two.
An excellent Aultmore and an excellent introduction to a new bottler. And, as far as I can tell, I did not discover them, nor the Fife Whisky Festival, with the assistance of any AI.
Score: 7/10
Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. AM
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At the point of this article’s publication, Aultmore doesn’t currently appear in the Dramface Top 40.
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