You can find it if you want it

But do you want it?

For the details…

Ardmore, located near the town of Kennethmont, Aberdeenshire, is one of the relatively few Highland distilleries still operating in the zone of the Highlands lying east of Speyside. It was founded in 1898 by Adam Teacher, of the Glasgow-based Teacher’s blending family, and it remained under control of William Teacher and Sons until 1976, when Teacher’s became part of Allied Distillers. When Allied was broken up in 2006, Ardmore passed to Beam International, which was subsequently acquired by Suntory.

Ardmore has stayed true to its roots, remaining an integral part of the Teacher’s blend; this limits it’s availability as a single malt, however it has been sporadically promoted in recent years, first with a naturally presented, no-age statement essay called Traditional Cask, and more recently, by Ardmore Legacy and sporadic age-statement and cask finish bottlings. Ardmore is also notable for being a medium-peated whisky, which for much of the recent past was quite unusual for a non-island made malt.

Ardmore Legacy is a budget-friendly, no-age statement malt, and has been the most widely and consistently available official bottling from the distillery for some time. Alas it’s…not great. It’s a somewhat smoky dram with some fruit and spice notes that never feels like it’s firing on all cylinders, thanks to youth and feeble strength. 

Ardmore Legacy 40% abv

Nose: Very warm and smoky with a strong undercurrent of linseed oil. Soft fruit–overripe peach and also cantaloupe. Savory woodsmoke–burning cedar or pine, perhaps? Ever so slightly minty.

Body: Medium and soft.

Palate: Again, very fruity and also very smoky–stewed peaches and savory woodsmoke, with some spice as well; cinnamon, clove and ground nutmeg. The slight mint note is there again. Definitely an undertone of woody bitterness, like a rather bitter hot cocoa.

Finish: Medium to long and smoky, with gunpowder becoming prominent.

Score: 60/100

Who should buy it?: People obsessed with Ardmore. People looking for a budget-friendly, moderately peated whisky.

Overall thoughts: An adequate dram with some pleasant qualities, but overall suffers from youth and poor presentation. Might be worth a buy for around $30, but I wouldn’t recommend paying more than that.

Bottling Information:

Expression: Ardmore Legacy 40% abv

Bottler: Proprietor

Range: n/a

Bottle Code: L424657B 09:11

Presentation: Unspecified

Details: n/a

Price: $30-45

Availability: Specialty retailers, especially those based in the UK or EU. I’ve never seen it where I live, but The Whisky Exchange and Hard to find Whisky carry it.

Distillery Information:

Region: Highlands

Location: Kennethmont, Aberdeenshire

Geography: Inland

Date Founded: 1898

Owner: Beam-Suntory

Website: https://www.ardmorewhisky.com/

Capacity: 5,400,000

Plant Summary: MASH TUN: Semi-Lauter; WASHBACKS: 14 Wood; STILLS: 8; HEAT SOURCE: Steam (heavy fuel boiler); CONDENSER: Shell and Tube

Total expressions sampled: 2

Overall distillery score: n/a

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