Origin: Highlands (Scotland)
Type: Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Strength: 55%ABV
Ageing casks: Ex-Bourbon and ex-Mezcal
Chillfiltered: No
Added coloring: No
Owner: Adelphi Distillery Ltd.
Average price: € 90.00
Official website: www.adelphidistillery.com
It wasn’t long ago that tequila and mezcal casks were introduced into Scotch maturation, overcoming the initial veto of the SWA, and even today they are certainly not very common among aged whiskies.
Ardnamurchan gave it a try in March 2025 with this (almost) undeclared age bottling, in which a peated distillate (30ppm) from 2017 spent six years in ex-bourbon casks and then finished for eighteen months in ex-mezcal casks.
Limited edition of 4,968 bottles.
Tasting Notes
High-volume mineral notes on the first approach to the nose, combined with a marked propensity for vegetal notes of aloe and green olive, sprinkled with wood smoke that clearly (and perhaps even a little suggestively) leads to mezcal. In the background, fruit (green apple, lime, unripe kiwi, mango), sugar paste, marzipan and a hint of mint reminiscent of After Eight filling. The addition of water enhances the fresh and tropical notes.
On the palate, it has a lively spiciness of ginger and white pepper, reproducing the vegetal soul with a plethora of unripe and sour fruit, from lime to apple to gooseberry to currant, always with a strong mineral vein with even salty traits, like wet rocks. Lemon tartlet. The smoke is more full-bodied, still earthy, but not overpowering, while the pungent aspects (including chilli pepper) prevail. Eucalyptus and artificial mint linger, with increasing salinity.
The finish is quite long and spicy, with vegetal smoke, lime, green apple, eucalyptus, lots of minerality and salt.
Less convincing on the palate than on the nose, where the finishing appears a little overpowering and not well integrated, leaving little room for the distillate to emerge. A curious experiment, but nothing more.
Vote: 84/100