We attempt 4 Ardnamurchan expressions, from the younger distillery owned by unbiased bottlers Adelphi.
The primary a part of this assessment is the triptych not too long ago launched by the Whisky Sponge. There’s a 2014 peatless cask, a 2015 closely peated cask and the peatyish mixture of each. All the time attention-grabbing to attempt such a composition.
In a second half we’ll add the 2022 April Idiot’s bottling from The Whisky Trade. Once I tried the pattern I didn’t comprehend it was Ardnamurchan but – this was solely disclosed afterwards. All 1575 bottles offered out like sizzling desserts. Full particulars may be discovered on their web site.
Ardnamurchan 7 yo 2014 ‘peatless’ (57,1%, Whisky Sponge 2022, launch 48C, first-fill barrel, 163 btl.)
Nostril: a pleasant dustiness up entrance, blended with rubbed lemon notes and hints of inexperienced banana pores and skin. Pineapple within the distance. Beneficiant malty notes with whiffs of Brussels waffles and “dry” vanilla. Clear hints of moist gravel within the background. Good.
Mouth: fairly brilliant, with the identical mixture of lemon and lime, pineapple, inexperienced apple and banana. Barley throughout. Cracked black peppercorns. A delicate salty edge too. The freshness of the spirit works properly alongside the cask spice.
End: medium size, returning in direction of apple peelings and leafy notes, pepper and a briny and mineral aspect.
Fairly flawless spirit, I’d say. It’s brilliant, balanced and combines properly with the standard cask. Actually up there with the very best tier of start-up distilleries. Solely offered as a whole triptych set, however offered out now.
Ardnamurchan 6 yo multivintage ‘peatyish’ (53%, Whisky Sponge 2022, launch 48B, 163 btl.)
Nostril: a bit of extra peaty and gristy, however in any other case fairly related. It’s a natural, elegant kind of peatiness. Nonetheless the waffle dough, cake, inexperienced fruits and light-weight vanilla behind it.
Mouth: extra apparent peat now, younger Talisker model. Properly salty and natural hints, mixing with oranges and inexperienced bananas, in addition to some moist limestone. The dustiness of the unpeated expression remains to be there. Smoked lemons too.
End: medium, on mild brine, oak spice and a really delicate sweetness.
Actually good: the peatiness is mild, including complexity whereas leaving sufficient room for the fruits of the unpeated spirit. If the Sponge creates a triptych, isn’t the primary aim to point out off the added worth of the blended product? Rating: 88/100
Ardnamurchan 6 yo 2015 ‘closely peated’ (57,1%, Whisky Sponge 2022, launch 48A, refill barrel, 163 btl.)
Nostril: today you by no means know what to anticipate from ‘closely peated’. On this case I’d say ‘reasonably heavy’. Plenty of inexperienced olive brine, charcoal and extra smoked lemons. Burnt peels too, and orchard fruits beneath. On the similar time buttery and frivolously floral notes come out.
Mouth: spicy peat, with pickled gherkins, olive brine and loads of sea salt exhibiting up. However it additionally appears sweeter than the others (shortbread). Some vegetal notes and oak char, whereas pungent pepper units by in the long run.
End: lengthy and spicy, with reasonable smoke and lemons.
A younger peater, very first rate particularly while you take the age under consideration. Perhaps not an distinctive worth / worth ratio, however the backside line right here is that Ardnamurchan could also be a reputation to control. Rating: 86/100
We’d like so as to add The Whisky Trade‘s April Idiot’s bottling. You might bear in mind TWE already launched an April Idiot’s launch final yr. The label stated extraordinarily younger – I want I have been older however it underneath UV mild revealed its true age of over 30 years.
For April Idiot’s Day 2022 they current a really related second launch, besides that it now says extraordinarily previous – I want I have been youthful. It turned out to be Ardnamurchan 2016, a wedding of three unpeated first-fill bourbon barrels with two peated Oloroso casks.
Ardnamurchan 5 yo 2016 ‘April Idiot’ (53,2%, The Whisky Trade 2022)
Nostril: loads of mashy/malty notes, stale beer, with a agency earthy and farmy edge to it. Candy apples, assorted chocolate sweet and caramelized nuts, blended with mulched leaves, some spirit sulfur and hints of brass cleaner. Within the background I discover echoes of smoke. An attention-grabbing however not significantly easy-going profile.
Mouth: the autumnal, leafy notes return, with extra of those (baked) pink apples, hints of raisins and oak spice. Malty sweetness, however much less candied than the nostril prompt. Black peppercorns and ginger. Hints of charred oak and farmy peat smoke add some rugged character. Additionally spiced oranges. Chocolate returns in direction of the top.
End: fairly lengthy, on oak spice, smoky leather-based and chocolate.
It is a barely misleading whisky, even youthful than the WhiskySponge bottlings, with the sherry cask blurring the traces a bit of. In a blind tasting, I’m certain you’ll obtain a complete vary of solutions while you requested folks to guess the age. An attention-grabbing idea, however I’m not a giant fan of the cumbersome, barely soiled character. Bourbon casks seize the trophy right here. Rating: 82/100
