Similar expressions are fairly widely available

Highly recommended

For the details…

Ardnamurchan is one of the newer distilleries in Scotland, part of a general distilling and building boom in the industry. Located on the remote Ardnamurchan peninsula along Scotland’s west coast, Ardnamurchan is roughly due west of Fort William, and northwest of Oban. 

It was built by indie bottler Adelphi in 2014, the first legal distillery on the peninsula, and one of only a handful on the mainland of the Western Highlands. Currently, the distillery produces both peated and unpeated spirit and uses both sherry and bourbon casks for maturation. The operation is at the forefront of a trend toward radical transparency in the Scotch whisky industry, especially among smaller and more craft-oriented distillers. Bottles feature QR code that provides comprehensive data on the sourcing of the spirit in the bottle, including individual casks used in the vatting, and even which of the distillery’s staff actually bottled it.

The Ardnamurchan range can be slightly confusing: for a while, most releases were designated like this one as “AD” followed by some numbers, which I believe designate month, year, and then batch number, in that order. More recently, I believe that they’ve switched to a more generic release as just “Ardnamurchan AD”.

In my experience, the AD bottlings are similar, if not identical in character and everything Ardnamurchan sends out into the world is naturally presented without chill-filtration or color, and at 46% abv or above.

Ardnamurchan has been a big hit amongst the enthusiast community, with influential YouTuber Aquavitae as a particularly vigorous booster. Sometimes the whisky community can get a little over-excited with hype, but from where I stand, Ardnamurchan deserves every bit of it. I’ve had 3 expressions from this young distillery–including this one–and I’ve absolutely loved every one of them. It’s a whisky that sneaks up on you with its subtle, but exceptionally high quality, and I find myself reaching for more without a thought. Even if you can’t find this specific iteration, I highly recommend buying any Ardnamurchan you can lay your hands on.

Ardnamurchan AD 03.21:02

Nose: Fresh, fruity, sweet and vinous. A sweetish white wine. Fruit lolipop. Molasses. There’s also a bit of pine sap, a touch of cereal, and a gentle wisp of incense smoke. With tasting, there’s honey and ruby red grapefruit.

Body: Medium, firm. Castor oil.

Palate: Quite sweet. Honeyish. Fresh sage. Tropical fruits–pineapple and cantaloupe. There’s a slight savory or salty note, perhaps prosciutto or jamon serrano. A trace of tin can. Succulent and tasty. On subsequent tastings, ruby red grapefruit.

Finish: Shortish, honeyed, fading.

Score: 90/100

Who should buy it?: This is a buy!

Overall thoughts: An excellent whisky that shows how tasty–not to mention how addictive!–very young whisky can be when it is well and carefully made.

Bottling Information:

Expression: Ardnamurchan AD 3:21:02

Bottler: Proprietor

Range: AD

Bottle Code: None

Presentation: Unchillfiltered and natural color

Details: See QR code

Price: $60-75

Availability: You might not find this specific bottling, however, Ardnamurchan has fairly wide distribution. In Albuquerque, I’ve seen bottles at both Jubilation and the Kelly’s at Mountain Run. If you can’t find it there, you can certainly find similar expressions such as this one at Hard to find Whisky or this from Must Have Malts.

Distillery Information:

Region: Highlands

Location: Ardnamurchan, West Highlands

Geography: Coastal

Date Founded: 2014

Owner: Adelphi Distillery Co

Website: https://www.adelphidistillery.com/

Capacity: 400,000

Plant Summary: MASH TUN: Semi-Lauter; WASHBACKS: 4 oak, 3 stainless steel; STILLS: 2; HEAT SOURCE: Biomass from locally sourced wood chip; CONDENSER: Shell and Tube

Total expressions sampled: 3Overall distillery score: S