Origin: Speyside (Scotland)
Type: Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Strength: 56.7%ABV
Ageing casks: Ex-Madeira first fill
Chillfiltered: No
Added colouring: No
Owner: Brave New Spirits
Average price: € 95.00
Official website: www.bravenewspirits.com
Vote: 84/100
As chance would have it, there have been several Ardmore on these pages lately, all of them independent without an official bottling ever having appeared: sooner or later this will have to be rectified.
After When The Eagles Watch (a nine year old in ex-Islay casks) and The Eagle Has Landed (a nine year old in Rivesaltes, a fortified wine from the south of France), here is another nine year old, this time in a first-fill ex-Madeira cask, from the Cask Noir line.
223 bottles from a late 2013 distillate, cask strength and obviously peated as this proud highlander (who is actually a speysider) commands.
Tasting notes
On the nose, the initial peatiness slap subsides over time, integrating with the other aromas: hints of bakery, with toasted bread crust and toasted cereals, accompanied by raspberry jam, baked apple, pink grapefruit, crème brûlée and almonds. It’s a little closed at first, but at the bottom it releases a mineral and a little dirty vein, of loam and wet stones.
In the mouth, it has a nice mellowness, with incisive black pepper and cinnamon on a pastry soul, like a berry tart with slivered almonds, lemon juice, cooked apple and pear, blood orange, fondant. The smoky part is still vegetal, of burnt shrubs, with a part of grilled fruit (pineapple, citrus) and a savoury component, of smoked ham. Dry and tannic in length.
Not very long finish of nuts (walnuts, almonds), red fruits, burnt grass, citrus.
So young for such an intense cask, the character of the distillery emerges with difficulty but remains perceptible, with a good structure even if it lacks that sparkle to emerge.