The Basics:

Character: Smoky, briney, savory and austere.

Score: 94/100

The details:

In the midst of the general distilling boom of recent years, Islay has (or at least had) been relatively quiet, especially given the enormous enthusiasm for Islay whiskies. Kilchoman was founded in 2005, but prior to that, the last new distilleries on Islay date to 1881. After that, Ardnahoe, built by indie bottler Hunter Laing, in 2018. Of course, there are more facilities on the way, with Elixir Distillers and Chivas both building new Islay plants, and Diageo having finally revivified Port Ellen.

Ardnahoe is located along the coast in between the town of Port Askaig (home to the Caol Ila distillery) and Bunnahabhain. It looks eastward over the Sound of Islay to the neighboring Isle of Jura; the mountain peaks of the Paps of Jura are featured on Ardnahoe’s graphic design.

In bringing their inaugural malt whisky to market, Hunter Laing did two unusual things: first, rather than bottling the whisky at the minimum 3 years old, they waited 5 years to launch. Further, rather than a highly limited inaugural release to be snapped up by collectors and speculators, they released thousands of bottles, which has meant that getting your hands on the first release from Ardnahoe has been far easier than other recent inaugural bottlings. I bought my first bottle from specialty retail in the UK, but had I waited a bit, a fair quantity of the stuff (along with the first core release from Ardnahoe, Infinite Loch) popped up at my local Total Wine. Albuquerque folk tend to be more interested in bourbon and American styles, and not too hasty to grab the latest and greatest from Scotland, so the last time I was at Total Wine, there was still a plethora of Ardnahoe to go around, even with my wife and I picking up a few spare bottles of this 5 year old inaugural whisky.

And yes, it’s that good; I don’t usually buy spare bottles, but in today’s market, $70 for a limited release malt whisky that’s this good is a no brainer–a lovely, smoky, savory, complex, maritime whisky, I highly recommend this first essay from Ardnahoe, and I can’t wait to see what the future brings!

Ardnahoe 5 – Inaugural Release, 50% abv

Tasting notes:

Nose: A big hit of minerallic, slightly metallic peat along with iodine and gherkin; crisp, firm. Faintly herbal notes–dried basil, followed by warm woodsmoke and more umami. Roasty. Rapidly evolving between crispness and an almost green apple crunch on one hand, and savory smoke on the other. Complex and interesting.

Body: Medium-ish, but slightly oily.

Palate: Big, quite peppery, and very smoky. Somewhat briney, smoked trout in light oil and lots and lots of fresh cracked telicherry pepper. Gunpowder and char, evolving into dried grass and even green tea. As with the nose, an interesting interplay of savoriness and austerity.

Finish: Charred and drying, becoming slightly tannic. Medium to long.

Score: 94/100

Who should buy it?: If you like smoky, peaty, maritime whiskies, you’ll love this stuff; even if you don’t generally like the style, this might just convert you. 

Overall thoughts: Cracking stuff, and bravo all around to Hunter Laing on this. Superior Islay malt.

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