Origin: Speyside (Scotland)
Type: Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Strength: 54.1%ABV
Ageing casks: Ex-bourbon, finished in ex-Lochindaal
Chillfiltered: No
Added coloring: No
Owner: Hidden Spirits
Average price: € 77.00
Official website: hiddenspirits.it
Vote: 87/100
Let’s add a new independent bottler, Italian despite the name, born at the behest of Andrea Ferrari in 2013.
Starting from a small shop in the streets of Ferrara, Hidden Spirits specialised in the scotches that are at the heart of Andrea’s passion, later opening a line dedicated to rum, The Wild Parrot Rum.
All single cask, particularly ex-Bourbon, with wonderful pictorial labels made by Italian artists.
In this case, I find myself with an Ardmore that, after eight years, spent the next two maturing in a cask from Lochindaal, a Bruichladdich peated whisky that’s more easily found in independent editions, producing 262 bottles in 2020.
Maturing Ardmore in casks sourced from Islay seems to be a widespread practice anyway…
Tasting notes
Pale yellow in the glass.
A delicate smoke caresses the peat, vegetal and with balsamic hints, expressing a certain freshness on the nose which is reflected in tones of lemon, tropical fruit (pineapple and a hint of coconut), peach, butter biscuits and honey. Over time, a slight medicinal note appears in the background on a body that becomes softer and warmer.
It glides with a pleasant oiliness on the palate, driven by ginger and pepper spread over veins of fruit, walnuts, cloves, bitter hints of rhubarb and a smokiness that is present but not cumbersome, revealing itself above all along the length, together with the medicinal background. Full-bodied, with the vegetal note well present and moist.
The finish is quite long and herbaceous, very mineral and ashy, with a bitter and dry trail.
An interesting and varied dram, with bitter notes that cleanse the mouth with each sip, preparing it for the next, in a precarious but functional balance between sweet and sour tones. Complex but enjoyable.