The Basics:

Character: Aromatic, peaty, fruity and complex.

Score: 93/100

The details:

It has become increasingly common practice for independent bottlers to acquire or build their own distilleries. Adelphi was one of the early adopters of that trend, and their plant on the remote western Highland Ardnamurchan peninsula began production in 2014. In its short life, Ardnamurchan has already released a plethora of young expressions, almost all drawing plaudits from malt lovers. 

The distillery produces both peated and unpeated spirit and uses both sherry and bourbon casks for maturation (along with occasional more exotic finishes). Each bottle has a scanable QR code that provides comprehensive data on the sourcing of the spirit in the bottle, including individual casks used in the vatting, and even who bottled it! They’ve also increasingly posted genial YouTube videos for their more significant launches, with a couple of distillery employees discussing the new whisky and giving a brief tasting. The overall effect is that they draw the consumer into the process and the people behind it in a decidedly winning fashion.

Ardnamurchan’s entire approach educates the consumer away from the misguided sense of invariant core expressions, and everything they release is pretty transparently a one-off. Even the core “AD/” line still has the QR code which reveals the ephemeral make-up of the whisky in the bottle. Other expressions–like this cask strength essay–are even more clearly intermittent, rather than consistent, bottlings. 

I’ve yet to have anything bad, or even ordinary, from Ardnamurchan; this early cask strength release is a banger, mixing aromatic and herbal notes, mineralic peat, and quite a surprising amount of fruit. It’s a beautiful, complex whisky, and although you may or may not be able to find the particular expression, my guess is that subsequent releases maintain the high quality, if not the precise character.

Ardnamurchan AD/09:22 Cask Strength, 58.4% abv

Tasting notes:

Nose: Aromatic with very gentle smoke. Rose petals and sandalwood. Underneath, a mix of salt air and fruit, with raspberry and kiwi slices to the fore. Burning incense. Inviting and complex.

Body: Surprisingly light and frisky.

Palate: The strength is barely noticeable. Quite mineralic, with graphite and limestone. Green olive juices. Becoming a little sweeter and fruitier, like biting into a very plump vine-ripened tomato. There’s smoke, but it’s restrained. Austere, enigmatic, complex.

Finish: There’s a burst of lychee, then drying with light, woody smoke and more graphite. Dried rosemary. Complex. Long.

Score: 93/100

Who should buy it?: Whisky lovers all! If you’re a malt whisky lover, I have a hard time imagining that you won’t enjoy this gem.

Overall thoughts: A cracking cask strength malt with absolutely stunning complexity for its extreme youth (at most, this would be ~ 7-8 years old). This shows just how incredible young whisky can be when you put great care into making it.

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