Experience Ardmore 1996 20yo 700ml 49.3% No Hidden Fees [VpWhPIb1]

Experience Ardmore 1996 20yo 700ml 49.3% No Hidden Fees [VpWhPIb1]

Some stains on the casing

Due to the reliance on Ardmore to create quality whisky for use in blends, it is only recently that the Highland distillery has begun to establish a presence as single malt. Ardmore doesn't tend bottling much of the whisky it produces, and certainly it doesn't have much of a record of pairing a release with an age statement.

Yet, here we are. A single malt, matured for 20 years in bourbon and ex-Islay casks. Typically peated and full of promise, this is a really intriguing dram worth trying.

Nose

Earthy peat is present from the start, with clean citrus notes of melon and lemon underneath. Chocolate digestives, honey, red apple and old oak round off an impressive nose.

Palate

Peppery peat develops more, not drying, but heating and softening the palate to reveal a robust vanilla that maintains among flares of flamed orange peel. Crushed summer berries and Scottish alfresco notes of freshly Scots pine and thick, meadow grass join with aplomb.

Finish

A light, honey'd finish, elegant peat carries throughout that lets a needed sweetness permeate, with the gentle presence of a sprig of rosemary.